A Couple Weeks
by CleoArrow
Summary: During a day at the beach, Beast Boy somehow gets both him and Raven entered into a competition that requires them to be in a romantic relationship. Will they win the contest, or will Beast Boy even survive an entire day with Raven? Could something else emerge between them because of this? Beast Boy/Raven
1. How Dark a Sunny Day Can Be

"It's so _hot_!" Beast Boy complained, collapsing backwards on the couch so that his feet were propped up by the armrest. "Who turned on the sun?"

It was the middle of a beautiful week, the sun was shining brighter than ever, and the sky was void of all clouds. Raven hated it. Her pale skin was made for dark and cold environments, not somewhere that sunflowers would have to wear shades because it was so bright outside. If Raven could live on the moon, she probably would. The dark girl was levitating above the couch a few feet from Beast Boy, her legs crossed and mind in an attempt to focus on something other than the heat. Despite the excruciating temperature, Raven still wore her purple cloak over her usual outfit, determined not to let the weather get the best of her. Beast Boy's constant whining wasn't helping to lift her spirits either. The couch dipped a few inches, signaling Cyborg's arrival. The robotic man slung his arms over the back of the sofa.

"I'm dying here!" he protested, wiping his hand across his drenched forehead. "The air conditioner is as cold as it can go and all the fans are turned on high! If only we had something else to cool us down," he sighed longingly. A moment of pure silence barely had time to pass when Cyborg and Beast Boy jumped up at the same time.

"Ice cream!"

Unplastering themselves from the couch, the duo dashed to the kitchen. Cyborg swung open the refrigerator, Beast Boy right over his shoulder and practically bouncing with excitement. Under the belief that her two annoyances were presently occupied, Raven closed her eyes, about to return to meditation, when Cyborg's voice cut through her focus again.

"Aw man, we got no ice cream?! What kind of a world do we live when we don't got no ice cream?!" he cried. "What happened to it all?! I know we had some a few days ago!"

"Dude! I remember!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "You used it all up in that brain freeze contest on Wednesday! Great going, Cy," he added bitterly.

"What are ya lookin' at me for? _You_ were the one who came up with the idea for a brain freeze contest in the first place!"

"What?!"

"Remember? You had the stupid idea that you could hold out against a brain freeze longer than I could, so I said, 'prove it', and you said, 'bring it on you electronic hunk of junk'!" Cyborg reminded.

"Heh. Oh yeah," Beast Boy grinned.

"And then I kicked your butt."

"What?! No way, Cy, that's not how I remember it!"

"Then you must have amnesia. There's something wrong with your brain," the robotic man chuckled.

"That's what I've always said," Raven murmured from her place above the couch. Beast Boy, having been successfully ganged up on, huffed, crossing his arms. He was saved from more badgering by the arrival of Robin.

"Listen up team, I've got a mission for us," the leader announced, walking over to the other Titans. His words brought an exaggerated groan from Beast Boy, who was stretched once again over the couch like a sloth.

"Are you serious? In this weather? Pass," Beast Boy stated. "I have to go and jump into a pit of boiling lava first." Which ironically, Raven noted as she floated down to sit on the sofa, wouldn't be much different than going outside in such heated weather.

"Oh, well sorry then Beast Boy; I guess that we'll have to go to the beach without you," Robin smirked. Beast Boy sat straight up. The beach? The wonderful sandy place filled with babes in bikinis and cold ocean water to dive through as a dolphin, beach?

"Whoa, whoa Robin; what's the catch?" Cyborg inquired, interrupting Beast Boy's fantasies. "You never let the team go anywhere fun without some motive behind it. Remember the time we went to the movie theater and it turned out to be haunted? Or when you sent us on a mission to the zoo and all the animals had broken free? Or-."

Robin gave a sheepish smile. "Yeah, I remember. But no worries, Cyborg; there's no catch this time. Aqualad requested that we watch over a certain section of the beach for him for a few hours while he's away until his friends take over. Apparently they're coming in from somewhere south of Florida so it's a long trip, but on a hot day like this, I figured you all would want to go to the beach for a little while. Just think of it as a day off."

Beast Boy needed to hear no more. He leapt from the couch and dashed through the main doors toward his room, yelling something about fun in the sun. Cyborg and Raven turned back to Robin. "So Robin," Cyborg began hesitantly, "you promise there's no twist? No hidden objective?"

"I promise," Robin swore, raising his palm.

"Then you're the best leader ever!" Cyborg swept the boy up into a giant hug that could only rivaled by Starfire's and then rushed off into his room to find some waterproof gear.

Robin was bent over catching his breath when Raven started to exit the room. "If you don't mind Robin, I think I'll stay in the tower today. I'm not big on beaches," she stated. When she thought about it, Raven doubted she even owned a bathing suit.

"Hang on Raven," Robin called, air now fully occupying his lungs again. "Before you go, Starfire wanted to see you in her room." Raven froze. Starfire's bedroom was a complete contrast to her own, and it was only the place, next to Beast Boy's room, that Raven avoided going in at all costs. Bright and cheery, the shades were always pulled open and shadows were chased away into the corners of the room. Any trace of gloom instantly disappeared when inside, but the worst part was the color. Starfire's bedroom looked like a giant pink paintball had exploded inside and stained everything. The walls, the clothes, the decorations: all were pink.

"Okay, I'll go talk to her," Raven answered. She exited through the door, wondering what horrors Starfire wanted her to succumb to today. Perhaps it was "the painting of the nails" or "the girl talk". Whatever it was, Raven forced herself to suppress a shudder as she left the main room.

* * *

"Dude, this is the best day ever!" Beast Boy exclaimed. He had on green shorts with white strips lining the sides, large blue goggles strapped to his head, and oversized aqua flippers bound to his feet. Topping off the whole look was an enormous rubber duck around his waist. Cyborg took one look at him and burst out laughing.

"Are-are-are-are you serious?!" he choked. "You're going to wear _that_ to the beach?"

"Uh huh!" Beast Boy nodded, grinning widely. "I'll be a huge chick magnet with all this stuff! It's a proven fact; I looked it up online!"

Another wave of laugher claimed Cyborg. He was literally rolling on the floor and holding his sides when Robin walked in. Cyborg sat up, delicately wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. "Oh, Beast Boy you make my day. 'I'll be a huge chick magnet'. Ha! I'm sure you will, if you lose those kiddy toys. What are you, seven?"

Beast Boy huffed. "Well, what about you? Not going to the beach at all, hm?" Cyborg looked no different than when Beast Boy had last seen him. He still wore his blue and steely armor, and he hadn't miraculously become fully human within the past half hour. As far as Beast Boy was concerned, there was no evidence to prove that Cyborg was going to the ocean with them.

"'Course I'm goin'! This is my waterproof suit!" Cyborg exclaimed, offended that his friend somehow hadn't noticed such an insignificant change in the armor. In truth, the metal Cyborg wore _was_ slightly water resistant. Since he was partly human, he wouldn't die or shut down if he got a drop of water on him anyway, but while his "waterproof suit" would protect him from the occasional splashes of water, there wasn't much he could do if he had to dive into the ocean except sink.

Robin cleared his throat slightly. "Ready to go guys?" he asked once he had their attention. He was wearing traditional red shorts beach attire, with the exception of his mask.

Beast Boy gave him thumbs up. "Yep!"

Reaching over, Cyborg pulled the stop on Beast Boy's duck. "Yep!" he replied as a hiss signaled air escaping from the duck. Within moments, the child's toy was completely deflated. While Beast Boy tried to figure out why his duck was no longer squeaking, Cyborg asked," So Robin, where are the girls at?"

"Probably still getting ready. Starfire wanted to talk to Raven, so they could be a while. Cyborg, could you get the T-car ready while I…" Robin died off as he caught sight of the two teenagers gawking at something behind him. He turned around and his own eyes grew wide. Long scarlet hair cascading past her shoulders and emerald eyes shy, Starfire stood at the top of the stairs. She wore an orange bathing suit, a bikini to be more exact, with straps as small as shoe laces hanging loosely over her tan shoulders. A small yellow flower was imprinted on one side of the bathing suit.

"Hello Robin," Starfire greeted bashfully, gliding to the leader's side. "Is my appearance… acceptable to you?"

"Uh, y-yes!" Robin stammered, his cheeks glowing slightly. "Absolutely! But Star… Where did you get that outfit?"

"I found it at the mall of shopping! There are many wonderful stores there filled with many exciting items! I have yet to explore them all, but I look forward to doing so! Would you like to accompany me the next time I go there, Robin?"

"Um uh, sure Star."

Starfire clapped her hands together in delight. "Wonderful! I anticipate such a time in the future!"

Robin couldn't help but grin. "Same." He faced the other boys. "Now that we're all here, I guess it's time that we start to head out-." Starfire stopped him, flying in his field of vision.

"Oh no Robin!" she exclaimed. "We have yet for friend Raven to join us!"

"Sorry Star, but she told me she wasn't coming…," Robin began, but Starfire only smiled, shaking her head.

"Come on Starfire, this is Raven we're talking about," Beast Boy reminded. "You know, pale skin, purple hair, menacing scowl, hates the sunlight. There's no way she'd ever come to the beach with us! If she ever did, then I'd… I'd… eat my socks!"

"Better start chewin' then, BB," Cyborg said, "cause I think she's comin' with us!" He pointed at the top of the stairs where none other than Raven stood. She wore a blue two-piece bathing suit and held a large umbrella in her hand. Straps on the top of her swimsuit wrapped around to the back of her neck and were tied tightly together in a small knot. The bottom half were more shorts-like, blue with purple swirls running along the edges.

"I am so going to regret this," Raven sighed, making her way down the stairs.

"Hey… Raven," Robin welcomed faintly. The leader was shocked that Raven was even coming with the team to the beach, and more so that she was wearing the bathing suit that she was. "I thought you were going to stay in the Tower today…"

"So did I, but apparently Starfire disagreed with us," Raven replied, not stopping in her descent down to the main room. "She was the one who forced me into this bathing suit."

"That musta been quite a sight," Cyborg murmured beneath his breath, smirking. "Oof!" he gasped as Robin elbowed him in the gut. Raven continued walking past the boys, not even pausing as she inquired, "Is that a deflated rubber duck at your feet?" Beast Boy, who had for some reason unable to speak a word since she walked in, snapped his open mouth shut and quickly swooped down, proceeding to frisbee the yellow toy out the window.

"What duck?" he asked innocently, hands folded behind his back and eyes wide, ignoring the audible splash that came from outside as the toy landed in the ocean. Raven rolled her eyes, picking up a towel on the kitchen table. While she was occupied, Beast Boy leaned over to Cyborg, whispering, "Look at that, the chicks are drawn to me already. Told you this stuff worked."

"I didn't know that Raven counted as a chick," Cyborg whispered back. "Starfire, yeah, but never Raven."  
"I know, dude. Me neither."

"You are pleased with your outfit, friend Raven?" Starfire asked hopefully, gliding over the boys' heads. Raven only shrugged, not wishing to hurt Starfire's feelings by saying otherwise. Wearing a bathing suit wasn't the worst thing in the world, but it certainly wasn't something Raven wanted to do on a daily basis. Despite Raven's lack of an enthusiastic answer, Starfire clapped her hands together happily.

"I am simply glad that you are joining us on our trip to the beach!" she exclaimed. "Now come friends; let us go quickly to the wonderful place that I have looked forward to all afternoon!" Starfire swooped out the door, Raven calmly following not too far behind. The remaining boys watched as the two exited, and only when the automatic doors had shut did they realize what Starfire had said. The quick dash that followed consisted of hurried hands and slightly blushing faces.

* * *

The sun's rays shone brightly over the sand, heating it to an almost uncomfortable temperature and keeping those less determined to brave the heat inside. Flocks of seagulls glided over the beach, occasionally landing to peck at a scrap of food that someone had left behind. Receding and then splashing up onto the shore again, the cool ocean lured occupants of the beach to take a break from the heat and go for a swim. Groups of teenagers and families were lined up for miles across the sand, enjoying the sun, splashing in the water, or simply engaged in a game of volleyball. "The beach!" Starfire declared joyously, spreading her arms wide and rising slightly above the ground with delight. Behind her, loaded up with beach chairs and umbrellas, Robin sighed. Starfire had just unintentionally announced herself to all the single boys on the shore, and since he and Star had kissed in Tokyo and were basically in an official relationship, that could turn out to be a bit of a problem for him. Not that Robin didn't trust Starfire; it was the other boys he didn't care for.

"Come Robin! Join me in the swimming of the ocean!" Starfire called, one foot already in the water. Robin smiled, waving her on ahead as he flipped out the folding chairs in a good place in the sun. Nearby Beast Boy, having previously discarded his unnecessary swimming equipment, was unhesitant in leaping straight into the freezing water of the ocean. He bounded off of the sandy beach, transforming into a kangaroo and launching himself high up, only to gracefully convert into a dolphin in mid-air and follow through with an elegant dive. It might have been more impressive if he hadn't sprinted out of the water a moment later shouting, "Coldcoldcoldcold!" Cyborg snorted with laugher from his dry position on the sand. Close by, Raven was already stretched out on a beach blanket underneath her large umbrella. She now wore a small circular hat and sunglasses to shield her from the sun. Thus, the Titan's day on the beach began.

"Hey Cy! Watch this!" Beast Boy called. Having temporarily given up on swimming, he was crouched a few feet from a large seagull, bent over like he had it in his head he was going to sneak up on it.

"What are you doin', BB?" Cyborg hollered back. "Are you tryin' to catch that seagull?" Beast Boy nodded. "Why would you want to do that?" The only response Cyborg received was a shrug and a grin. He rolled his eyes, leaning back to watch the show. And a show it was. Tongue stuck out somewhat to the side, Beast Boy was concentrating furiously. He took a few steps forward as quietly as he could, but the bird, well aware of the human behind him, hopped twice the length that Beast Boy had moved, though in the opposite direction. Narrowing his eyebrows, Beast Boy moved closer. Again the seagull trotted further away. Impatience got the best of Beast Boy and he sprang forward, arms outstretched. The bird took flight, causing Beast Boy to crash to the ground nowhere even near his target. He sat up, shaking sand particles from his hair. There was now a bright red mark on his chest. A few moments passed before the pain really set in.

"Ohhhh sandburn! That's gonna hurt in the morning," Beast Boy moaned, curling over and pressing his arms to his ribs. Two blonde girls, who happened to be passing by, glanced at each other, giggling. Beast Boy's eyes lit up and he scrambled to his feet, already in pursuit.

"Robin, would you like to join me in a game of the volleyball?" Starfire asked, flying over to the leader with a softball in her hands. Robin looked up from where he sat.

"I don't see why not," he smiled, getting to his feet. "Who else is playing?"

"I hoped that our friends could join us!" Starfire responded. "Cyborg has already agreed to play."

"So that leaves… Beast Boy!" Robin called. Beast Boy was trudging over the sand in the team's direction. The two giggling girls had hardly given him the time of the day, other than pausing to say that he was too green for their liking. At least they had thought he was funny.

"Want to play a game of volleyball with us?" the leader invited Beast Boy, bouncing a softball up and down on the sand.

Beast Boy perked up. "Sure," he replied. "If you don't mind me kicking your butt at it!" He scurried over to the volleyball net, only to pause beside Raven. After taking a moment to build up his courage, Beast Boy had barely opened his mouth when Raven, stretching out on a towel in the shade, spoke first.

"No."

"But-but-."

"No."

Beast Boy morphed into a puppy, widening his adorable eyes and whimpering sorrowfully. He circled once, nudging against Raven's foot with his nose. Raven lifted her sunglasses to look at him. Beast Boy's miniature tail thumped hopefully.

"No." A bucket of sand dumped itself onto his head.

Beast Boy's ears drooped, then after a quick shake, he transformed into human form again, shrugging. "Your loss," he said. The two had little spats like these often, with Beast Boy annoying Raven, Raven telling him to stop, Beast Boy ignoring her and then _somehow_ getting hurt. Beast Boy never truly got injured though; just enough pain inflicted to make him conscious that he was irritating Raven. He would cease for a few minutes before starting the process over again. The whole team was aware of it, and, though in the past Robin and Starfire had attempted to keep Beast Boy from Raven so she couldn't inflict damage, (Cyborg would just sit by and laugh) the realization that Beast Boy wasn't really in danger dawned on them. He practically seemed to enjoy the constant attention. The two's squabbles were sometimes even good for a laugh, making up for the lack of humor in Beast Boy's jokes.

Beast Boy ran over to the other members of the team, who should have been warming up beside the volleyball net but were prevented from doing so by a group of teenagers who had encircled the Titans. A boy with greasy, spiny hair and an obnoxious smirk planted on his face took a step up to Robin. "You think you can take our volleyball court, Mask?" he snorted. The boy's shorts were black, matching his hair, and had the image of a sinister skull on the sides. "Don't you know that this stretch of the beach is our turf?" Robin's only response was the slightest narrowing of his eyebrows. He had already analyzed the boy in his mind. Dark appearance, spikes for earrings, and alcohol on his breath, this was someone to be wary of. With a quick observation, Robin deduced that the other teenagers at his side were probably part of a gang, and the boy in front was the leader. The beach was their place for daytime preying, and it didn't take much to guess that their nightly habits included places like dark alleys and warehouses.

"Man, what are you talking about?" Cyborg asked. "We're only gonna play a game of volleyball."

"Not on our turf, Gears. You'd better leave before things get ugly."

"Uglier than you?" Beast Boy muttered beneath his breath. "Come on, dude!" he continued, louder. "Who are you to tell us that we can't play a simple game?"

"I'm Tear," the boy announced, "as in the tearing of skin and bones, which is what's gonna to happen to you unless you get out of here!" Tear leaned close, sneering. Robin crossed his arms, a stance the Titans had seen when they knew he was determined not to let others get the best of him. He used it during battles, with villains like Slade, and when playing against his teammates over the course of friendly competitions. Robin was one to win, not to back down, and while his stubbornness could be frustrating, it was frequently the reason that the Titans were victorious.

"The beach is a glorious place where should all be allowed to play, is it not?" Starfire asked, innocent and confused.

Tear turned his attention to Starfire. A wily grin spread over his face. "We only have a few exceptions. Want to be one of them?" He had reached a hand out when he found Robin blocking his path. The Titan's eyes were narrowed.

"Play a game against us," Robin commanded. "You win and we'll leave. We win, and you'll have to accept that no one rules the beach."

"Why should we do what you say? Tear scoffed.

Beast Boy couldn't stop a grin from growing over his face. "What are you, scared?" he taunted, his sharp canine teeth glinting. "Tear afraid of getting torn?" Tear's eyes blazed, and he gave an angry snort. People passing by could see the smoke coming out of his nostrils like a bull. If there was one thing Beast Boy knew how to do, it was irritate others.

"Fine. We'll play you with street rules," Tear sniffed, rubbing his nose. "But don't cry when we burn you so bad that you'll wish you'd played with fire instead." He whipped around to face his gang, each teenager scarier than the last. There were seven, including Tear, and all wore leather jackets despite the scorching sun. There was one girl, and she bore a barbed collar accompanied with large jagged earrings and spiked bracelets. Apparently the girl was all about sharp things. "Spike," Tear called, "take the center." She grinned, revealing a pierced bottom lip, and obliged.

"Uh, dude? Isn't there supposed to be some rule about the amount of team members you have?" Beast Boy asked nervously, inching further back.

Tear chuckled. "Why? Scared, Grass Stain?"

Beast Boy's ears grew red. "Grass Stain?! Bring it on!"

"He's right," Robin stepped forward. "We're in this to win it." Glancing back at the team, he lowered his voice. "Try not to use any of your powers unless necessary," he murmured. "We'll try to keep it fair."

"Fair?! They have seven people and we only have four!" Beast Boy whined. Robin silenced him with a quick glare.

Tear's team began the first serve a hard spike that was only barely saved by a dive from Cyborg. Robin leapt up and smacked the spinning ball back to the other team. The girl named Spike punched it into the air, which was then shot over by a guy with a shaven head and giant fists. Beast Boy returned the volley with a hit of his own. The game continued quickly, and before long a pattern emerged. Tear would gain a point, and then the Titans would earn one. Soon the teams were tied and only one point was needed to win. By now a large crowd with people wanting to see if their beach would finally be freed from the tight grip of the gang had gathered. As the intensity of the game had increased, so did the spectators, and presently there was a big audience watching. Tear could feel the heat. He was soaked with sweat, and the dark clothes he wore were not helping him keep cool, let alone look good. Glancing at the other members of his team, he could tell that they were also exhausted. Spike, even, was gasping for breath. It was time to end the game. Tear nodded to Spike, and when the volleyball came to their team next, he set their plan into action. Spike grabbed the top of the net, jerking it down, and Tear spiked the ball as hard as he could at the opposing team's ground. He stepped back with a grin. There was no way they could stop such a strong hit.

But they did. Tear watched in shock as the green boy morphed into a turtle to prevent the ball from hitting the sand. The softball ricocheted off his shell, causing the ball to sail high into the sky. The girl dressed in an orange bikini flew to it, smacking it down hard. Tear and his gang barely had time to dive for cover. The volleyball hit the beach with the force of a falling meteor, and sand flew everywhere, temporarily blinding everyone. When Tear opened his eyes, there was a deep indention in the ground, along with a deflating softball.

"H-Hey! You have super powers!" Tear exclaimed. "That's cheating!"

The boy wearing a mask grinned slightly. "You cheated, not us; but hey, good game." He offered a hand. Growling, Tear pushed it back. He motioned to his team, and they slunk further down the beach to hide somewhere until the shame burned off.

Beast Boy pumped a fist in the air. "Yeah, that's right! We rule! And you don't! Uh huh! Uh huh!" He started doing his well-known victory dance, only stopping when Cyborg plucked him off the ground.

"Don't ever do that again," Cyborg requested sternly, but there was a smile in his eyes. Beast Boy knew he was just as excited, but hiding it in order to be a good sport. The shape-shifter thought at least a little celebration should be in order though.

"Let's get some ice cream!" he exclaimed. Grinning, Cyborg placed Beast Boy on the ground, and the two boys ran off. Watching them go, Robin wiped his sweaty forehead, his look of fierce concentration fading into calm. The game hadn't lasted very long, but had been a great workout in substitute of his usual combat practice. Robin always made sure he was in his prime for whatever situation might come his way, whether it was fighting Cinderblock or dealing with Cyborg and Beast Boy's arguments. Even though this time it had only been a game of volleyball, there was still less evil in the world and Robin felt pretty accomplished. He turned around to talk to Starfire about the game to find that she was already speaking with someone else; one of the gang members in fact.

"I do not understand," Starfire questioned. "What do you mean, 'come over to your place'?" The boy who was talking to her seemed just as confused, but because she didn't comprehend what he was saying. Robin placed a hand on the teen's shoulder and gave the gang member a long hard stare. Spooked, the boy retreated.

Beast Boy and Cyborg had come back from the ice cream stand, licking their cones down to nothing, when Beast Boy caught sight of Tear leaned over Raven's umbrella. From looking at him positioned in the tough-guy stance, collar pulled up and hair slicked back, it seemed he was trying to hit on her. Beast Boy almost choked with laughter. The poor guy didn't know what he was in for. But as Beast Boy watched, Raven seemed to be getting more and more irritated, and she wasn't using her powers against Tear. Beast Boy crunched on the last of his cone.

"What are you thinkin', BB?" Cyborg inquired, catching sight of the look on his friend's thoughtful face.

"I'm thinking that Raven might need some help fending off that dude," Beast Boy replied, and then motioning to the side where Robin stood, almost as if on guard, beside Starfire, he continued. "Starfire has Robin to fend off whatever dudes are crushing on her. Raven's left all alone over there! She'll need defending," Beast Boy decided.

"I don't really think that's necessary, man. Raven can handle him herself I'm sure…" Cyborg's words fell on deaf pointy ears, and, as Beast Boy walked over to Raven, Cyborg allowed himself a small sigh. The shape-shifter never could keep out of other people's business.

Raven tilted her hat back, squinting against the sun. "May I help you?" A darkly dressed boy with greasy hair was standing beside her umbrella. _Leaning on_ it was a better phrase. He had an obnoxious smirk plastered on his face and the strong smell of BO emitting from his sweat-stained shirt. Raven wrinkled her nose. She recognized him from the volleyball game that her teammates had won: Teary or something.

"Yeah," Tear grinned. "I've lost my phone number and was wondering if I could have yours."

Raven adjusted her hat back to its original position. "No thanks, but your phone number should be in your phone if you look."

Tear let his confidence slip for a moment before he recovered, dropping closer to Raven. "Come on, darlin', how about you come on over to my place?"

"Pass," Raven stated shortly. She picked up the book she'd been reading, but Tear pushed it down, leaning closer.

"Why not? You would love it there. Come on, girl, you know that deep inside you really want to," Tear whispered.

Raven looked at him. "You know? Deep, deep down inside, I really don't." Tear moved back frowning as Raven sighed. This boy was more infuriating than Beast Boy, and, just like Beast Boy, he didn't know how to take no for an answer. Tear opened his mouth, probably to say something detestable again, when Beast Boy appeared. _Speaking of_… Raven thought.

"Is this dude bothering you, Raven?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"Yes," Raven said, somewhat wary, wondering what the shape-shifter was doing. When Beast Boy got involved with something, a mess usually followed, and Raven would most likely have to clean it up.

"What of it, Grass Stain?" Tear snapped, getting to his feet.

"I want you to stop," Beast Boy stated confidentially. Raven remained quiet. She appreciated what he was doing, but she could have handled the problem herself. Although, if the problem could be solved without unnecessary energy usage, Raven thought she might as well give her friend a chance.

Tear snarled. "Why? Is she your girlfriend or somethin'?"

Beast Boy hesitated. Then, "Yes, she is." Raven fell stock-still. She'd kill him. She swore she'd kill him. "And I want you to stop annoying her," the doomed shape-shifter continued. Tear, who hadn't expected Beast Boy to confirm the relationship, blinked. Nearby, Raven was silently planning what the best way to rid of Beast Boy was. Maybe throwing him into the mouth of a volcano was too kind?

"Okay, Grass Stain," Tear said, placing his hands on his hips, "then you wouldn't mind a little competition?" He pulled a slip of paper from his pocket and handed it to Beast Boy. It said in big, bold letters '_THE_ _CUTEST COUPLE COMPETITION_'. In smaller writing beneath, it stated, _'Think you have what it takes to win a competition with your boyfriend or girlfriend? Come enter THE CUTEST COUPLE COMPETITION and win BIG BUCKS! If our television audience votes you THE CUTEST COUPLE out of the other couples after a date with your significant other, then you'll win! Call 1-800-CUTE for entry'._ Then in the fine print: _'Contestant entries may vary. CUTEST COUPLE COMPETITION is not responsible for any injuries which may occur'._

"It's a new television show. My girlfriend and I are already entered." Tear jabbed a finger at Beast Boy. "I dare you to join. There's no way you could beat Spike and me."

"It's on!" Beast Boy exclaimed, clenching the paper in his fist. There wasn't a chance he was going to back out of such a bold challenge. The Titan's, and his, honors were at stake! He had to uphold their winning streak!

Tear chuckled. "It's in three weeks. See ya then, Grass Stain." He hooked his thumbs in his pockets and strolled off, tromping over a child's sandcastle as he went. Beast Boy turned to Raven, whose eyes were blazing. A black wall of magic slowly rose around her.

"I think that went well," he smiled.

* * *

**Please review!**


	2. Willing and Unwilling

**Holy Cow! I never expected to have so many people put this story on alert and give such amazing reviews! Thanks guys! It really makes my day when stuff like that happens! Thank you so much!**

**Alright, now that I'm done getting excited, onto the story!**

* * *

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

Raven drilled her cold glare into Cyborg, who was cracking up after hearing Beast Boy relay to him what had happened with Tear. The day at the beach was over, and the Titans were now back in their tower, dressed in their usual outfits. Raven hadn't yet decided on how she was going to kill Beast Boy; that was the only reason he was still standing beside the couch without the aid of crutches.

Robin and Starfire sat beside each other, an amused smirk on Robin's face and an innocent smile on Starfire's. "Are you serious about entering, Beast Boy?" Robin asked.

"Of course, dude! I have to keep the Titan's honor!" Beast Boy exclaimed, puffing his chest out. "Backing down would be like giving up! If that happened, then that dude will think he's able to walk all over us!"

Robin nodded. "That makes some level of sense, I guess."

"Sense?" Raven started, dangerously low. "This madness makes sense to you? My being in a 'relationship' with him makes sense to you?" Robin had always been one who understood her well. He knew when to leave her alone -for the most part- and when it was a good time to talk. Sometimes the leader was able to convince the others to consider her personal time alone more seriously. But now he was encouraging this… this… insanity?!

"Well… Think about it Raven. Beast Boy kind of has a point about them walking over us," Robin tried to calm her. "And if he backed down right after we won the volleyball game, it'd be like our win was a fluke." Raven was in a cold silence. "But… I guess if you don't want to, then we shouldn't force you," the leader admitted, scratching the back of his head.

Cyborg, who was recovering from his laughing fit, suddenly leaned forward. "Robin though, you know this television thing seems like a good idea. You and Starfire could always enter instead of Raven and BB."

Robin's ears turned bright red and he glanced at Beast Boy. "So how do you plan to pull this off?" he quickly asked the shape-shifter, avoiding eye contact with Raven who was muttering _'coward'_ beneath her breath. Beast Boy shrugged. He hadn't really thought about it much. He'd only accepted the challenge in the heat of the moment, not really thinking about the consequences that his actions, or Raven, might bring him. It couldn't be too hard to fake being a couple though. Could it?

Cyborg saved him. "It seems to me that you two need to start spending some alone time with each other. At the very least try holding hands or somethin'!" Beast Boy glanced at Raven, who was busy fuming on her end of the couch. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to do the contest after all. Beast Boy was always trying to include Raven in activities, but maybe this time he had gone too far. He looked at the ground and the image of the words BIG BUCKS swam by his vision. All doubts vanished.

"Come on, Raven! At least try!" Cyborg was saying.

"I have not agreed to do such an idiotic thing," Raven retorted, her eyes heated. "I gain nothing from this, and being near Beast Boy now without causing him physical harm is difficult enough. You expect him to survive for three weeks with me?"

"If you need something to gain, Rae, I have an idea," Beast Boy interrupted, ignoring Raven's last comment about his potential doom. "According to the card thingy that Tear gave me, whoever wins gets big bucks! We'd split the money, and I'll buy you as many books or creepy decorations for your room as you want!" Raven scowled at him, but Beast Boy could tell that she was considering it. All she needed was a little push in the right direction; one more thing to offer. "And… if you do this… then I won't bother you for a week afterwards!" He settled on a week because he doubt he could hold off longer than that. Besides video games, trying to make Raven laugh- though he always failed- was one of his favorite pastimes.

"Come on, Raven! Let the little guy have his fun!" Cyborg urged.

She frowned at him. "You just want me to do this so you can watch us squirm and get a good laugh out of it." Cyborg opened his eyes wide in fake innocence, even though Raven had been spot on with her accusation. She sighed, giving in. "I guess I'll do it," she muttered.

"Yes! Thank you Raven! You won't regret it!" Beast Boy exclaimed, jumping to his feet, a large grin on his face.

"I'm sure I will," Raven said. Robin smiled, getting up to call in their participation of the contest. It was better to do it quick before Raven changed her mind. While the leader didn't find enjoyment in causing others unhappiness, that didn't mean he couldn't laugh a little when things got a bit awkward.

While Robin was on the phone, Cyborg got down to business. He found the whole situation hilarious and was determined to make the most of it while he could. "It seems to me," he began, fighting the glee that was threatening to show, "if you are going to pretend to be a couple, you need to get used to doing things that couples do. One of the basics is holding hands with each other."

"Wonderful," Raven muttered.

"Now, there are several ways that couples can hold hands," Cyborg continued, ignoring Raven's lack of excitement as he was getting enthusiastic himself. "You can lace your fingers together or maybe hold them like you are shaking hands, but not stiff of course. Or maybe mix it up and combine the two. Or maybe start off with a sudden, passionate hand squeeze which could lead to a hug-." He cut off as he realized that everyone was watching him curiously. He blushed.

"I'm becoming nauseous," Raven groaned, putting a hand to her mouth.

"How do you know all this stuff, Cy?" Beast Boy asked.

Cyborg rubbed the back of his head. "I guess I've been watching a lot of T.V." He avoided saying what shows exactly that he saw. Such information could be used against him.

"Funny," Raven said. "I never took you for the romantic type."

Cyborg was quick to turn the attention back to Beast Boy and Raven's "relationship" before he could be embarrassed further; he tended to like leaving humiliation for the others. "So, which way do you two want to hold hands?" he questioned, adding a small smirk to his words. Raven and Beast Boy's amused expressions faded into uncomfortable ones. They glanced at each other, Raven suddenly wondering why she had decided to sit so far from Beast Boy. She would have get up to go attempt to hold hands, therefor drawing more attention to them and taking more time than she wanted to have to deal with the whole situation. Cyborg had made it all the more difficult by listing different ways to hold hands. They would have to discuss it, all the while getting more and more awkward. Raven wished profusely that she had meditated more today.

Raven looked up to find that during the time she'd been worrying, Beast Boy had already approached her. Lightly shaded red, he offered her his hand. Grateful that her hood hid her own embarrassment, Raven hesitantly took it and stood beside him. Barely ten seconds passed before a flash of black appeared at the base of Beast Boy's feet and propelled him high into the air. Raven jumped back as he crashed to the ground.

"Friend Beast Boy!" Starfire exclaimed, swooping to his side. Beast Boy sat up, blinking and confused. Raven grimaced behind her hood. She had not meant to do that, far from it, but she had always known that she needed to keep her emotions in check. Apparently she hadn't done a very good job in suppressing her embarrassment. Beast Boy rubbed his lower back where he had hit the ground. He was now thinking that it had been a _really_ bad idea to do the contest with Raven. They'd barely begun and he was already getting hurt! The pain in his rear end had begun to fade when he looked up to see Raven walking away.

"I can't do it," she stated. "I quit."

"What?!" Cyborg cried, sliding in front of her. "Come on, Raven! That was only your first try! It's always easier a second time!"

"There will be no second time, Cyborg. I'm not doing this," Raven said stubbornly.

"Too late, Raven," Robin announced, making his way over. "I've already called in your entry. You two are officially listed as contestants." Raven stopped. She hadn't expected that. Robin observed her and Beast Boy as Starfire helped the dazed shape-shifter to his feet. "Now, the way I see it, you're trying to go too fast. Holding hands obviously triggered something that won't work for you two, at least at first. Try just hooking your arm in his, Raven." Raven mutely obliged, briskly slipping her arm in Beast Boy's at the elbow. Beast Boy braced himself for any unexpected attacks that Raven might hit him with by accident, but nothing happened. After a few seconds, he allowed himself to relax. Robin nodded. "Good." Cyborg silently huffed as the "couple" broke apart. That hadn't been as much fun as he'd hoped for, but he was sure there was still more awkwardness to come.

"That wasn't so bad," Beast Boy smiled nervously, rubbing the back of his head. Raven just looked at him. Even after being thrown in the air, crashing painfully onto the uncarpeted ground, and unknowing to what pains she might cause him in the future, he still seemed eager to keep going. _He must really want to win_, she observed.

"I have an idea!" Starfire suddenly exclaimed, flying closer. "On my planet, Tamaraneans commonly take a day to talk and compliment each other before officially proclaiming their relationships. Perhaps Raven and Beast Boy should do the same?"

"That's a great idea, Star," Robin smiled. "How about you two try that? Find nice things to say about each other." Raven almost groaned. She spent most of her time doing the opposite when it came to Beast Boy. It was one of the few things that could make living in the tower with him tolerable. The two Titans stared at the ground uncomfortably, and Robin, realizing that an audience was probably one of the reasons that Raven's powers had exploded like they did, shooed Cyborg and Starfire out of the room. The automatic doors slid smoothly shut and it was silent.

Beast Boy cleared his throat. "So… Nice things?" Raven gave no response except to adjust her hood. Several minutes passed with no sound from either of the teenagers. The silence was worthy of a cricket's song. Eventually Raven sighed.

"This is pointless," she said. Beast Boy's green eyes widened. "You can't possibly think that we are going to win the competition, right?"

"Uh, of course I do!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "I mean, at the very least we'll beat that Tear dude!"

"I still see no point in wanting to participate in such an idiotic, useless competition. Television shows are always set up. Audiences will vote for the 'cute' couple, which if you haven't noticed, your green skin and my pale doesn't exactly match or look 'cute'. Tear probably has paid to win anyway, so there would be no way for us to prevail, even if I wanted to. Which I don't," she added. Beast Boy furrowed his brow. He couldn't understand why Raven was being so stubborn. She never wanted to do anything, especially when it included him, and though he was continually trying to involve her and get her to join in activities, she just pushed his efforts away. Beast Boy could recognize once in a while not wanting to do anything -that was half of his agenda most of the time- but always? Not even he did that.

"Fine then, Raven! I'm sorry I dragged you into this!" Beast Boy huffed, crossing his arms. "I didn't know that doing this with me irritated you so much!"

"You're only just realizing that?" Raven sighed. "Just how ignorant are you?"

"I'm trying to do something nice, Rae! Why can't you appreciate that?"

"I can't appreciate it because your 'doing something nice' isn't very thoughtful at all. I was forced into this, remember?" Raven almost snapped, trying to keep a leash on her emotions. "If I had a choice, I wouldn't be in this competition. I wouldn't be sitting here with you at all."

"But if you would-!"

"No! Do I need to shove a phone into your head and send you a wake-up call to make you realize that I do not want to do this competition at all?!"

Beast Boy, who had been leaning forward, suddenly dropped his shoulders and sat back. "Okay; don't be. Drop out." Raven blinked in surprise. Had she really won that quickly? "But you made a commitment," Beast Boy continued, looking at her straight in the eye, "and while this is your decision and I understand if you are backing out of it, just know that's something I'd never do."

Was he trying to say that he was more mature than her? After what he'd roped her into? _How_ he'd roped her into it? "I never wanted to do this, Beast Boy, so you can't tell me that."

"At least I'm trying here! Maybe if you were nice to me for a minute it wouldn't be so difficult!"

"This was your idea in the first place!" They were both on their feet now, staring each other down with fiery eyes and raging tempers. Raven could feel her anger building and building, but she could hardly care anymore, partly because Beast Boy was right. She was making things harder than they had to be, but didn't she have the right? Being in the same room with Beast Boy was impossible enough as it was, but being his girlfriend? There was a line that had been not only crossed, but stepped and spit on as well. Raven clenched a glowing fist at her side. A streak of black flashed upwards, targeting a light bulb and shattering it instantly into tiny pieces. It fell like glittering rain on the couple below.

Beast Boy, his anger dead, looked down at the cracked glass scattered around their feet. He sighed. "Sorry Raven," he said, deflated. "I'll see if we can find a way to cancel our registration." Beast Boy started to walk toward the door, carefully stepping over the sharp remains of the light bulb. He had gotten halfway when a pale hand touched his shoulder. Raven lowered herself to the ground from the air, pulling her hood back.

"I find you… almost… amusing… when you attempt to tell jokes and mess up horribly," Raven strained, forcing the words out as if they were hard to say. Beast Boy raised a confused eyebrow. "We were… supposed to be complimenting each other. Or something," Raven reminded him impassively.

Beast Boy's eyes lit up and he gave Raven a huge smile. "So you'll do it?!"

"I made a commitment. I'm not one to back out of something I've promised to do, no matter how much I might dislike it," Raven said. "I'll just tough it out. Plus, I have a week free of annoyances from you to look forward to when this is over."

Beast Boy's smile grew even bigger. "Thanks Raven! And I'll try not to make it too hard on you while we're 'dating'." He paused, grinning. "So you find me amusing?"

"Almost. Don't get a big head," Raven warned. "These compliments are only so we don't kill each other during the next three weeks."

"Right, right." Beast Boy waved his hand. Raven was going to compete with him! As far as he was concerned, the hardest part was over; now they just had to win the contest. He jumped onto the couch, bouncing slightly when he hit the cushion. "So, I guess it's my turn. Hm…," he hummed, thinking as he settled on the sofa. "You are fun to play pranks on!" Raven glared at the shape-shifter, gliding over across from him on the couch and landing cross-legged. "Heh," Beast Boy smiled timidly, running a hand through his green hair. "I mean… You… You always listen to me, even when I'm complaining." Raven nodded; that was true. It was hard to block out someone who never stopped talking, so it was easier to offer a solution than ignore him.

Raven took a moment, thinking. "You tend to include me in everything, even when I might not want to be involved." The words were balancing on the line between a compliment and a complaint, but Raven doubted that Beast Boy would care. Besides, she wasn't about to give him free praise without a trace of an insult in it, to make sure Beast Boy knew he wasn't perfect and remind him that she was being forced to do this. The two continued to exchange words, and, as they did, they found it was getting easier and easier to talk, forgetting about the competition, and just having conversation. Eventually a surprised Raven discovered she was almost enjoying herself. She and Beast Boy were opposites in many ways, but they were finding the few things they had in common covering a large enough range of topics to keep their discussions going. She'd even let a few opportune insults slip by. Maybe the Tamaraneans were on the right track, if not with boyfriends or girlfriends, then at least conversing with friends.

Beast Boy crossed his legs on the seat. "Mad Mod is totally our strangest villain! I mean, that dude created a whole world out of electronic hypnotic things and had us completely confused that whole battle! Robin only barely figured it out, remember?"

"You only say that because Mad Mod hypnotized you so many times," Raven replied with the hidden trace of a smile. "Besides, if we weren't in his element, there would have been no oddities about it. Even during the second time we fought him, he made us be in his choice of a battle stage. Control Freak is our most bizarre villain. He can bring anything to life anywhere with his remote control and has found a way to go into the T.V. before, but besides that he's done a lot of stupid things that other villains have not done. Remember when the Titans East said he appeared right in front of them to say how cool he thought they were?" Raven reminded. "_That_ is strange."

"Yeah, he is pretty weird," Beast Boy admitted. Leaning back, he yawned and stretched. "Dude, I think I need something to wake me up. Wanna soda?" Raven shook her head and Beast Boy shrugged. "Suit yourself." He jumped over the top of the couch, heading toward the refrigerator. As he withdrew a Root Beer, Raven glanced at the clock. It was almost eleven. Pulling up her hood, she got to her feet, and Beast Boy looked at her.

"I'm going to bed," Raven explained. Beast Boy squinted at the clock, widening his eyes when he saw how late it was. Then he shrugged, and, flicking on the television, plopped back down onto the sofa, propping his feet atop the table. Raven rolled her eyes. Everyone in the tower knew about Beast Boy's video game all-nighters. Every few mornings, Raven would come down from her bedroom and find him crashed out on the couch, his fingers twitching, empty bags of potato chips crushed on the cushions, and muttering "one more level" like a zombie in his sleep. The T.V. would often still be on, with the usual gruesome bloody zombie images splattering the screen, the occasional shooting game firing away, and once in a while some childish thing with a cute but repetitive brown monkey holding a banana, dancing back and forth, and chanting over and over again, "You lose! You lose!"

"Goodnight," Raven said so Beast Boy would be aware that she was leaving.

Beast Boy waved a hand at her, not looking away from the T.V. As Raven began to walk through the door, however, she heard Beast Boy call back, "Night, girlfriend!"

Raven paused, sighing. "Just when I thought this might work out." With a flick of her wrist, Beast Boy's Root Beer spun upside-down, dumping its cold and sticky contents on the shape-shifter's head. Shivering, Beast Boy attempted to remove an ice cube sliding down his shirt as Raven smiled slightly to herself and exited to her room.


	3. Beast Boyfriend

**Thank you all for such wonderful reviews! I get a warm feeling inside whenever I see that someone new is following my story or someone has submitted a comment, so thank you all!**

* * *

"Beast Boy! Wakey wakey!" Cyborg shook Beast Boy awake from his position on the couch; or at least he tried to. Beast Boy was a heavy sleeper, and apparently one who drooled and slept with his thumb in his mouth. The time was eight in the morning, and so far Cyborg was the only one who was in the main room. Robin had dropped in earlier, and, having grabbed a swift breakfast, was now warming up in the exercise room with Starfire. Raven had taken a rare morning to sleep in a little longer due to her staying up late the night before. Cyborg once again shook Beast Boy in an effort to wake him. When the shape-shifter didn't move except to pull the couch blanket further over his shoulders, Cyborg changed his tactics. After a moment of thought, he leaned close to his friend's green ear and exclaimed, "Beast Boy! Raven's furious at you because of the competition! She's on a rampage and destroying the tower! Run!"

Beast Boy shot up, his eyes wide open and darting around the room, searching for the girl who had supposedly planned his doom. When he saw no one and no signs of destruction, he swung his gaze to Cyborg, who was rolling on the floor with laughter. "Dude! What'd you do that for?" Beast Boy complained. "I was about ready to dive out a window!"

Cyborg chuckled gleefully, slapping a hand on Beast Boy's shoulder. "Sorry man, couldn't help it. Besides, it got you up. Honestly though," he admitted, heading over to the fridge and withdrawing orange juice, "I'm fairly surprised to see you alive and well after hanging out with Raven all night. Any internal injuries I should be worried about?" he asked.

Beast Boy shook his head, his bedhead hairdo bouncing around as he moved. "No, nothing. We just had a good time talking."

"What, really? You had a good time with Raven? More surprisingly, she had a good time with you?" Cyborg asked, flicking on the stove to start cooking pancakes.

"Well, I think Raven enjoyed it," Beast Boy said. "The most she did was dump soda on me and break a light bulb."

"I was wondering where all the glass on the ground came from," Cyborg remarked, flipping his pancake. "I cleaned it up by the way; you're welcome."

"Uh huh," Beast Boy said, no longer listening. He had just discovered the bird nest that used to be his hair. "Aw dude, my hair's all messed up! How am I supposed to impress the ladies with this thing on my head?"

Cyborg, having finished preparing his breakfast in record speed, began the process of pouring a gallon of syrup on his stack of pancakes. "You forget, BB? You only have one lady to impress now since you're in a relationship." Beast Boy started. He hadn't thought about that part. Raven could care less what his hair looked like -as she'd stated several times in the past- but Beast Boy wasn't worried about that. He didn't realize that he would be unable to flirt with other girls because of the competition or attempt to impress them with his shape-shifting powers and whimsical charm. Then again, not flirting with girls also meant he couldn't strike out with any either. The bad came with the good, and besides, when he won the money from the _CUTEST COUPLE COMPETITION_, girls would come rolling in. Beast Boy was daydreaming about his hot tub and babes in bikinis when the main doors slid open.

Raven stood atop the stairs. "Beast Boy is up before I was? The world must be upside down today," she observed, floating down to the kitchen. "Have enough syrup on those pancakes, Cyborg?" she asked as she passed. A kiddy pool of sticky syrup was rippling at the base of Cyborg's breakfast.

"Not quite," Cyborg replied, finally emptying the container of syrup. With a quick observation that seemed to satisfy the robot-man, Cyborg stabbed his fork into the top of his pancake tower, topping it like a flag. Raven sat down with a cup of tea as he shoved half of his breakfast into his mouth. "So," Cyborg began, swallowing. "Care to relate the adventures of last night to me?"

"There was no adventure. We just talked like Starfire suggested," Raven said calmly, sipping at her tea. Beast Boy took a seat at the table in between the two with a bowl of cereal; a meal that required little work to prepare. As he chowed down on Frosted Flakes, Cyborg pushed.

"Come on, nothing? I'm sure there's more to it than that. What about the broken light bulb?" he prompted.

"Beast Boy and I simply had a slight disagreement," Raven answered. "And then it was resolved." She drank from her cup again. More often than not, she felt calmest in the morning, and it was difficult to rouse her temper at such a time of inner tranquility. Cyborg, though, felt no such peace within him. He was getting frustrated. It was set in his mind that Raven and Beast Boy were hiding something from him, and since they were not going to tell him what it was, then Cyborg decided he might as well make them uncomfortable for it.

"Well, if you're not gonna tell me, then at least I have more juicy stuff to look forward to today," Cyborg stated. Raven and Beast Boy paused in their breakfasts, looking at him questioningly. "Don't you still have to learn about being a couple?" he reminded. Raven went back to her tea as he continued. "So what's it today? Hugging? Going to the movies on a date? _Kissing_?" While Raven seemed undeterred, Cyborg drew pleasure from the small blush mounting in Beast Boy's cheeks. He knew Raven was probably embarrassed too, but it was much more enjoyable to watch a reaction from someone who actually showed emotion once in a while. Beast Boy was fiddling with his spoon uncomfortably, his cereal half eaten. Cyborg wondered just how red he could make his little green friend.

"What about you, Cyborg?" Raven suddenly asked, causing a break in his thoughts. He looked at the expressionless girl. "Any interesting plans we should know about, like maybe watching the Discovery Channel?" Cyborg blinked. "I heard that there was a show on about discovering the many ways to hold hands. It's on at five if you want to see it." Beast Boy stifled a laugh, throwing his hands over his mouth. Raven remained as stoic as ever, though Cyborg wouldn't know, but she had a tiny smile hidden behind the shadows of her hood. It was now Cyborg's turn to change color, his skin escalating quite rapidly in temperature.

"Hey team," Robin greeted to Cyborg's relief. The leader walked through the entrance doors, a white towel slung over his shoulder from his workout. He had sweat dripping down his forehead and a glass of cold water in his hand. Starfire glided in behind him without a trace of her exhaustion showing.

"Glorious morning greetings, friends!" she addressed the occupants of the room. "How are you all on this fine day?" She received a grunt from Cyborg and the usual silence from Raven. Beast Boy was busy pouring the remainder of his cereal in his mouth.

"Looks like they're the same as usual, Star," Robin smiled. He approached Beast Boy. "Though I must say, I'm a bit surprised to see you here unharmed after last night," he remarked. Raven raised an eyebrow. Why did everyone assume she was going to kill Beast Boy? They had disagreements; that was all. She only threatened his life once every other day. Beast Boy swallowed his cereal and wiped his mouth without a response. "So," Robin resumed, "should we continue in developing your guys' relationship?" Raven frowned. She had been hoping to have some time to meditate alone today, but the team wouldn't let up on them about her and Beast Boy's fake relationship.

"Let's just get this over with," Raven sighed, standing. "What do you all have planned for us today?" She looked pointedly at Robin and Cyborg, causing the two to glance at each other.

Robin spoke first. "I thought about it, and what I said last night still stands. You two will need to take it slow so Raven doesn't accidentally cripple Beast Boy for life." Raven quietly huffed. "I think that you should just hang out for the day to get used to each other's habits and daily routines, so if someone asked you about those things, you could answer them right away. I'm sure they'll do that during the interviews."

"There are interviews?" Beast Boy asked.

Robin nodded. "Usually. I wouldn't assume otherwise for this show."

"So have fun hanging out with each other _all day_," Cyborg stressed, grinning evilly. He was still slightly bitter about Raven getting the best of him, but she only shrugged, irritating Cyborg more.

"Come on then, Beast Boy," Raven beckoned, placing her tea cup on the table. "Let's go find something to do." Beast Boy jumped off his seat, following her out into the hallway and abandoning his almost empty bowel for someone else to clean up.

"I guess we know who wears the pants in their relationship," Cyborg snickered once the two Titans had left the room. No sooner had he finished his sentence that the bowl Beast Boy had left on the table was incased in black, soared into the air, and then discarded its contents on the top of Cyborg's head.

Robin raised an eyebrow. "I'd be careful, Cyborg. If you're not cautious of what you say, you might get hurt more than Beast Boy during these next three weeks."

Accepting the towel that Starfire graciously offered him, Cyborg wiped bits of cereal off of his metallic skull and sighed. "I can't help it though, man. Those two as a couple? It's like a gold mine! You're telling me that you don't even have the slightest urge to enjoy this?"

Robin frowned. "As your leader, I tell you that I have never had the slightest urge to enjoy something at the expense of my friends and only a lesser person would ever experience joy because of that." Cyborg studied the ground, somewhat ashamed. Quieting, Robin leaned closer. "But as your friend," he whispered, "I say that the whole thing is pretty funny." Moving away, Robin crossed his arms. "For their sake though, Cyborg, leave them alone. Raven can be unstable when it comes to Beast Boy, and even though we might joke about their disagreements, if her emotions get out of hand we might have to make a real trip to the hospital. Until they get comfortable with the new arrangement, don't bother either of them, alright?"

Cyborg rolled his eyes, but gave a nod. "Okay man, I'll leave the kids alone." Robin, satisfied, headed to the refrigerator to fetch himself ice for his glass of water. "At least, for a little while," Cyborg murmured beneath his breath. He might not have an opportunity such as the one presented to him in a long time and he wasn't about to let it pass him by without a bit of fun.

* * *

"So," Raven began, walking down the hallway with Beast Boy at her side, "though I may regret asking this, what is it that you do during the day?"

Beast Boy, not used to having anyone taking an interest in his daily routine, no matter how unenthusiastic they might be about it, took a moment to ponder the question. "Well… I'm not usually awake this early," he confessed. Raven glanced at a clock on the wall; the time was eight twenty-five. "I usually get up around like noon-ish." Giving a roll of her eyes, Raven noted that everyone knew that much. "Then I have breakfast, play video games, and drink soda and eat chips until dinner. After that, I play more video games or watch T.V. until I pass out on the couch or go to bed, depending if I'm stuck on a really hard level or there's a T.V. marathon on."

Raven stopped, studying Beast Boy for a few seconds. "Wow," she finally said, "there's not much more to you than meets the eye, is there?" Beast Boy shrugged. Raven gave a sigh. "Well, none of that sounds in the least enjoyable to me."

Beast Boy crossed his arms. "Well, what do you usually do? Read boring old books or meditate the day away? Or maybe you drink herbal tea?" Raven was silent, mostly because he was right and she didn't want to admit it. Beast Boy smiled, one of the rare moments he won against Raven. "We're not so different, huh Rae?"

"I suppose not," she confessed, "but I actually spend my day focusing and using my brain instead of rotting it while watching television." Raven pulled her hood back. "What do you suggest we do all day since we have to spend it together?" Again, Beast Boy shrugged. "What a helpful suggestion," Raven stated sarcastically, turning away.

"Well, I do have one idea," Beast Boy admitted.

* * *

"The usual, please," Beast Boy requested, and then as an afterthought added, "with extra sprinkles." He and Raven were in Jump City beside an ice cream truck, ordering a quick refreshing snack to cool down with. It wasn't nearly as hot as it had been the day they'd gone to the beach, but Raven, someone who burned easily, still hid her pale skin beneath the shadows of her hood. Her beach sunburn had just begun to fade, and, even though she healed quickly, it didn't mean she wanted another.

The man in the ice cream truck, a large fellow with a charming smile, handed Beast Boy his order. Raven glanced at the mountain of syrupy sugar and sprinkles in his hands and lifted an eyebrow. The mystery to why Beast Boy was always bouncing off of the walls back at the tower had been solved. And apparently he came here often, Raven realized, recalling his order. She mentally rolled her eyes, removing her hood as they presently stood in the shade. "And for the little lady?" the man in the truck asked. On his shirt, Raven glimpsed a silver name tag reading William. She shrugged.

Beast Boy elbowed her. "I suggest the Chocolate Sundae. It's fantastic."

With a quick look at the shape-shifter, Raven sighed and repeated his suggestion to William. She didn't care what she had as long as it didn't taste like barf or something Starfire had cooked up. All of the Titans had been down that road and it wasn't one they wanted to travel down again. Raven could almost prefer the barf over her alien friend's cooking.

While she'd been thinking, William had finished creating her sundae. A wave of rich chocolate washed over Raven as the man handed it to her, adding, "That'll be nine fifty," as he did. Raven reached for her money, and, her hand grasping air, realized that she had brought none because Beast Boy insisted that where they were heading be a surprise. Immediately blaming him, she turned to snap at the boy but was surprised to see that he already had his wallet out. Catching her astonished look, he grinned. "What?" he asked. "I'm the boyfriend, so I'll treat." Pleasantly surprised, Raven let a small smile escape through the emotionless barrier she usually kept up. Maybe having a "boyfriend" wasn't so bad after all.

William, who was listening, widened his eyes. "Really? You two are dating?" He leaned over to Raven, pointing a pen at Beast Boy. "_You_'re dating _him_?"

She sighed, once again impassive. "As shocking as it may seem."

"Huh." William moved back, shrugging.

A little irritated at William's disbelief- which was really spot on because the two were _not_ dating- Beast Boy waved his ten dollar bill in front of the ice cream man. "Do you want the money or not, dude?"

With a chuckle, William took the cash. As he prepared the correct change, he smiled. "Sorry little guy; I just find it hard to believe."

Beast Boy, in an attempt to prove that he and Raven were indeed dating, threw his arm over her shoulder and grinned. "Better believe it, dude!" Behind him, a fire hydrant suddenly erupted and shot water all over the sidewalk, dousing a girl nearby who was walking her dog. The two sprinted for cover, scared and confused as to what had caused such an unexpected explosion. Unaware of the happenings, Raven was attempting not to blow Beast Boy himself to the sky. Did he have that short of a memory to already have forgotten what occurred when they tried to hold hands the day before? Her previous positive thoughts about boyfriends evaporated along with her optimism.

Raven glared at Beast Boy. "We'll see how long it lasts." William laughed and handed Beast Boy his change. The shape-shifter steered Raven away from the ice cream truck.

"Raven!" he hissed once they were out of earshot. "You have to be better about our relationship if people are going to vote for us!"

"And you have to be better about where you put your arm if you want to keep it," Raven retorted. Beast Boy, realizing he still had his arm on her, removed it swiftly with a quick blush. "And people are going to vote for us?" Raven continued, irked. "Who and in what century?" Beast Boy just couldn't seem to comprehend how unlikely it was that they were going to win the contest. Raven was about to state her harsh opinion, but, remembering their argument the night before, stayed silent.

Beast Boy seemed sad. "What do you mean? Of course people will vote for us! You saw how the ice cream dude was laughing at your comment!"

Maybe he really did have memory loss. "Do you not remember that he was laughing at my pointing out how _unlikely_ we were as a couple?" Beast Boy frowned and took a large bite of his ice cream, pondering what would be a good answer. Raven turned her attention to her own frozen dessert. A sundae, hers was in a plastic bowel, and already there was an ocean of melted ice cream surrounding the chocolate island. She frowned as a drop of the sticky liquid trickled down her hand. "Oh, here." Raven lifted her head up to find Beast Boy handing her a napkin. She gave him a questioning look, and he shrugged. "Happens all the time. Gotta know when to be prepared, whether it's stopping a robbery, or just cleaning up ice cream."

Suddenly, a few buildings away an intrusion alarm rang, and two masked men clutching bags to their chests stumbled down the front steps of a bank, directing black guns at any people nearby. Raven glared at Beast Boy, who raised his hands in defense. "I swear I had nothing to do with that!" Rolling her eyes, Raven threw her sundae into a trash can and flew over to intercept the burglars, Beast Boy not far behind.

As soon as the thieves caught sight of the two Titans headed their way, they panicked. One sprinted down the sidewalk and the other aimed his shaking gun at Raven. Beast Boy morphed into a hawk and shot after the escaping bandit, while Raven threw up a shimmering force field and deflected an incoming bullet away from her. With a whip of magic, she jerked the gun out of the burglar's hand, crushing it in a mass of black. Another flash of her powers, and the burglar was lying unconscious, but unharmed, on the ground. She settled to the sidewalk in time to see Beast Boy trotting back to her in the form of a tiger, the thief dragging on the cement behind him. After a quick scare with his saber teeth that caused the robber to swoon, Beast Boy shifted back into human, grinning at Raven. "They don't make bad guys like they used to," he commented right before a blast of light caught him in the chest and knocked him back several feet.

"Beast Boy!" Raven whipped around to see the bearer of the weapon. Standing at the top of the bank's stairs, Doctor Light chuckled, the yellow sphere on his chest glowing like a miniature sun.

"You cannot prevail against Doctor Light!" the maniac cried. "Doctor Light is master of all things bright! Doctor Light is superior over children such as yourselves! You cannot see because of the light from Dr. Light!"

"What the heck, dude?!" Beast Boy called. "Why do you keep referring to yourself in the third person?!"

"It's repetitive," Raven agreed. "And shows how dim-witted you really are."

"Or should we say… dim-watted?" Beast Boy asked, moving up beside her and grinning.

She glared at him. "No, we shouldn't." Doctor Light scowled at the two, his chest beginning to glow a bright yellow, when a beam of blue crashed into him from behind, knocking the doctor from the bank's steps. Cyborg swerved the T-car around Raven and Beast Boy, coming to a stop just behind the two. The Titans emerged from the vehicle, Cyborg looking at Raven as he stepped onto the pavement.

"Should I blast this green fella too?" he asked her.

"We'll reserve that for some time in the future," she replied emotionlessly. "Right now, we need to focus on Doctor Light." Almost in response to Raven's words, a ray of light cut through the air virtually an inch from her body; she could feel the heat of the golden light close to her skin. Instead, it caught Beast Boy again and sent him flying a second time. An audible thud could be heard as he crashed into the cement. Raven threw up her shield of magic, additional bright beams bouncing off of the protective barrier and ricocheting into a nearby building. She got to her feet as crumbles of the rock rolled into a small pile on the sidewalk. A few feet away, Cyborg cocked his hand canon.

"Man, don't these villains ever learn?" he complained, letting off another shot at Dr. Light, who reflected the beam off of a light barrier.

"Dude, did I just hear an echo in here?" Beast Boy called, hitting his hand against the side of his head and shaking loose a few pieces of dirt from his hair. "I've been saying that ever since we _formed_ this team! What do I have to do to get you guys to listen to me?!" He ducked as a ray of light shot past his head, causing chunks of bricks to break from the side of a building and plummet toward the green shape-shifter. A wall of black rose up from the ground, shielding Beast Boy from the debris.

"For a start," Raven sighed, "try focusing on the battle instead of complaining."

"Hey you two lovebirds!" Cyborg called. "Less chit-chat, more attack!" He fired a volley of blue beams at Dr. Light.

Raven rolled her eyes. "That's what I was telling him." She flew over to join the fight, Beast Boy tagging along in the form of a cat. Dr. Light was busy bouncing Cyborg's attack off of a light-generated shield and into Starfire, who had swooped in for a punch. The girl was knocked back into Robin and the two crashed onto a nearby car.

"Hah!" Raven levitated two lamp posts and swung them at Dr. Light. The villain fired a few quick shots and sent them crashing to the ground in heaps of rubble. Beast Boy leapt over the wreckage, morphing from a slender cat into a full-grown lion. He landed just in front of Dr. Light, snarling. Nerves rattled, Dr. Light took a few steps back and bumped against something cold and metallic. He looked up to meet Cyborg's fist.

Robin, having untangled from Starfire, rejoined the team to find Cyborg wrapping a lamp post around Dr. Light's unconscious form. He placed the doctor beside the bandits Raven and Beast Boy had caught. "That should hold him. The police can take over when they arrive," Cyborg commented.

Starfire flew over. "But what if the Doctor of Light should awaken before then?" she asked worriedly.

"There'll be no such problem," Beast Boy grinned. "He's out like a light."

The whole team groaned.

Beast Boy looked at them. "What? It sounded fine in my head!"

"It would have been better if it had stayed there," Raven stated impassively, making her way toward the T-car. Beast Boy huffed. Laughing, Cyborg clapped a hand on his green friend's shoulder.

"Forget about it, BB. You've got nothin' on your girlfriend," he grinned, then turning to Robin and Starfire called, "Hey, now that the bad-guy-butt-whoopin's done, who's up for some pizza?!" The two immediately perked up at the mention of their favorite food, as did Beast Boy, who was quick to forgive and forget. He was also hungry since he hadn't finished his ice cream.

"Pizza?! Yes dude! I'll be in the car!" he cried, zipping into bird form and flying over to the T-car, quickly changing back into a human, and finally jumping in his current back seat. Cyborg grinned. He had insisted that the shape-shifter sit in the back after an incident when Cyborg was driving and Beast Boy had attempted to take over the wheel. The result was a fire hydrant embedded in the bumper of the car and Beast Boy confined to the back seat for a month.

"Yo team, come on!" Cyborg exclaimed, running to the car as well. "Let's go!"

* * *

**Review please!**


	4. Would You Rather?

**This chapter turned out a lot longer than I thought it would be, which isn't necessarily bad I suppose… Oh well! Thanks for such wonderful reviews!**

* * *

Raven was already buckled up when Beast Boy entered the back. In her hands she held a worn leather book, her eyes skimming quickly over the yellow-tinged pages. Beast Boy raised a green eyebrow. "Did you bring that when we went out for ice cream?"

Raven shook her head without looking up. "I keep one in the car for when I think I'll need distraction sometime in the immediate future. Cyborg said we are going out for pizza, right? You two act like little children whenever we are there." She flipped a page.

"Do you go _anywhere_ without a book?" Beast Boy asked.

"Do you go anywhere without having to tell obnoxious jokes?" was the emotionless reply.

"I don't even get what's so exciting about that kind of thing," Beast Boy continued, pulling his seat belt on, undeterred by her sarcastic response.

"Reading?"

"No. Yes! I mean, um… just books in general. Dude, they don't even have a screen! What would make someone sit in front of a book for hours on end just to read something?!" Beast Boy threw his hands in the air as if to somehow emphasize his point.

Raven rolled her eyes. "Yes, because you sitting on the couch in front of a T.V. screen is so unlike sitting on a couch and reading, besides the fact that video games rot your brain. That is, if you had one," she added, going back to her book.

Beast Boy was about to reply with a witty remark which would probably only prove Raven's point more when Starfire opened the door. "Excuse me friend Beast Boy, would you mind moving over so that I am able to accompany my friends to the place of pizza?"

"Sure Star." Beast Boy slid over beside Raven, and Starfire slipped into the car. A moment later, Cyborg and Robin entered the vehicle in the front, Robin shotgun and Cyborg driving.

"Ready ya'll?!" Cyborg asked, revving the engine. Robin pulled his seat belt on, aware that the hungrier Cyborg was, the faster the car would go. The T-car pulled out into city traffic at about sixty miles per hour. Apparently Cyborg wasn't as hungry as usual, Robin observed, his hands glued to the sides of his seat as Cyborg began swerving around other cars on the street. They were in the parking lot of their usual pizza place, the Pizza Corner, within five minutes.

"Boo-ya!" Cyborg exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air. "Pizza time!" He leapt out of the car, leaving the other occupants of the vehicle to catch their breath and swallow their breakfast. Raven was the first one out, taking only a precious moment to recover and then proceeding on to read her captivating book. Beast Boy was quick to follow, the book verses T.V. argument not yet resolved in his mind.

"Wait Raven," he called, catching up to her and keeping pace. "You can't really believe T.V. rots your brain!?"

"You're living proof," Raven replied, her nose still in her book.

"Hey! I take pride in my video games I'll have you know." Beast Boy glanced over his shoulder at the T-car. Robin was helping Starfire out of the back. "Besides, anything that you can focus on for more than ten minutes deserves that kind of devoted attention!"

"Beast Boy, I'm reading."

"Plus, there's a whole variety of video games you can play!" he continued, oblivious. "Zombie killing games, hunting games, dance games…"

"Beast Boy, I'm trying to read," Raven attempted again.

"And of course if you get bored you can always switch to watching T.V. shows, and then there's a whole new world out there to explore! Comedy, action, romance, horror…"

"Beast Boy." Raven closed her book.

"Horror's the best though. There's nothing like clutching a blanket in fear on the couch at one in the morning while watching terror marathons. I'll tell ya, I've had my fair share of those nights. Makes me wonder how I can even get up to go to the bathro-." Beast Boy cut off as a shimmering black-encased book slammed into his face. The leather book fell to the ground to reveal Raven facing the shape-shifter, the fist at her side aglow with black. "Hey?" Beast Boy questioned, picking up the book. "Weren't you reading this?" Raven opened her hand and the book flew into her palm. Flipping through the pages once again, she turned and began walking away as if nothing had happened. Beast Boy rubbed his nose, grinning, and scampered to the entrance of the Pizza Corner, graciously pulling open the door for Raven and bowing overdramatically as he thought a good "boyfriend" should. Beast Boy was playing into his part convincingly, but Raven just passed through without a look in his direction.

"Hey, thanks Beast Boy," Robin commented, walking inside with Starfire.

"Yes, many joyous thanks, friend!" Starfire added with a generous smile.

"No problem folks! I'll be here all… these next three seconds!" he exclaimed with a glance down at an imaginary watch on his wrist. "Two… one… Done!"

Starfire giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. Robin lifted an eyebrow. "You really thought that was funny?"

"Oh, I do not understand many of Beast Boy's jokes," she explained, "as I do not understand many phrases used here on Earth, but I do find him quite whimsical."

Robin smirked, glancing at the shape-shifter who was in a mad dash to get to his usual seat before anyone else could take it, nearly tripping over various chairs as he did so. "I'll agree with that."

"Cy! No! That's my seat, dude! Don't take it!" Robin could hear Beast Boy's familiar protests all the way across the restaurant. The leader grinned and made his way through the fallen seats to their usual table.

* * *

Raven sat down in her typical chair underneath a shady umbrella. She took a moment to draw her attention to Cyborg and Beast Boy, who were fighting over whose spot was whose. This happened every time the Titans went out for pizza; it was the main reason Raven brought a book with her for distraction. After a quick observation, she decided that the two should know better than to try to push her from her seat, especially after previous conflicts. She could still hear Beast Boy's knees knocking together with fear as he slipped into a different chair. True, she had been a little harsh, but there was a limit to how much sun she could take. One hundred and six degrees Fahrenheit out with the cheerful birds chirping and Beast Boy receiving all the shade was bound to cause more than a little irritation. Raven's focus slid back to her book as Robin and Starfire sat down.

A blonde waitress sporting a red blouse appeared, dishing out menus to the occupants of the table. By the smooth way she was careful to avoid the two Titans still wrestling on the ground, it was obvious she'd served the team before. "Have any drinks in mind?"

"Lemonade," Robin requested.

"I will have the Mist of Sierra," Starfire announced. It took the waitress a few seconds before she comprehended what Starfire was asking for.

"Water," Raven stated, aware that there was no tea in a pizza place.

The waitress jotted down the orders. "Alright. Anything for these two?" she asked, gesturing to Beast Boy and Cyborg's tangle of arms and legs.

"Root- Beer- !" Beast Boy managed to call out.

Cyborg sat up, rubbing his head. "Coke."

Beast Boy leapt for his prize seat, amazingly managing to land dead center in the chair. "Ha ha, gotcha Cy!" he exclaimed, swaying in a circular motion. With a huff, Cyborg took the other open spot between Starfire and Beast Boy. Beast Boy beamed a toothy grin as Robin picked up a menu.

"So, what should we order?" he asked, regretting it immediately as the question triggered another argument.

"Triple meat toppings!" Cyborg exclaimed.

"Veggie special!" Beast Boy shouted in the same breath. The two locked their gazes.

During the argument that followed, Raven finished the current chapter in her book and received the water she ordered. Sighing, she shut the cover closed. It was becoming increasingly difficult to focus with the two children arguing beside her.

"Dude, I'm a vegetarian! That's like making me eat myself! Even though I might be delicious, that's still disgusting!" Beast Boy was shouting.

"I'm a growing man, man! Gotta have my meat!" Cyborg retorted. Raven glanced at Starfire and Robin. The two were talking, their voices rose only loud enough to hear each other over the ruckus.

Beast Boy took in another breath to protest once more against Cyborg when he found himself unable to speak. He glanced down to see a mass of black magic covering his mouth. Raven, sipping from her glass of water, lowered her hand and the magic dispersed.

"Just get half meat and half vegetables. Problem solved," she resolved blankly.

Beast Boy's eyes grew wide. "You can _do_ that?" he asked, aghast.

Raven rolled her eyes. "You've eaten at this place how many times?"

The waitress appeared once more, a pen and pad in hand. "Dare I ask if you have decided what to order?"

"Half of the veggie special and half the triple meat combo," Robin said calmly, who had been listening in. The waitress nodded, scratching down the order, and then left, only to leave Cyborg and Beast Boy with nothing to argue about. Not that they weren't capable of creating a problem just for the sake of disagreement. This time though, Beast Boy had something else in mind.

"Let's play a game!" he suggested.

"A game," Robin repeated, slightly intrigued but also wary. Beast Boy's games tended to be dangerous… and stinky. He could still remember the day when he walked into the main room to discover Cyborg and Beast Boy fleeing from a large, glowing black wad of something that faintly smelled like sewage and Beast Boy's room. Leaned up against the wall, Raven's hand was aglow with magic, a sign that the original game had probably gone far from its initial purpose. When Robin had questioned what was going on, the only response he got was, "Stinkball." With these thoughts in mind, it was only natural that Robin was cautious. Starfire, however, had no such concerns.

"A game? What game do you speak of?" she asked curiously.

"An awesome game," Beast Boy answered, as always trying to draw out whatever attention he got.

"Uh huh," Cyborg doubted. "And what is the 'supposed' name of this 'supposedly' awesome game? Man, it had better not be whoever can spit the furthest again, 'cause you know the last time we tried that-."

"No, no, Cy," Beast Boy waved his palm quickly so not to bring up the mention of the previous spitting contest including angry birds and the police. "This game is something so much better than that. It towers over other lesser games such as I Spy and Twenty Questions. This game is the game of all non-electronic games!"

"I'm on the edge of my seat," Raven muttered impassively.

"This game," Beast Boy continued without pausing a beat, "is _Would You Rather?!_" He was now standing on the top of his chair, arms spread wide as if to present the game to the world. The other Titans observed him, long use to his exaggerated behavior. Starfire was the first to respond.

"Please friend Beast Boy, how do you play this game?" the girl asked.

Beast Boy dropped back to his seat. "Simple, Star. One of us has to come up with two different scenarios and ask the rest which they would rather choose. If you can't or won't answer the question, then you lose. Last one standing wins!"

"I think she's still a little confused, BB," Cyborg said, gesturing to Starfire's face, which was as blank as a sheet of paper. "Maybe an example would help."

"Oh, okay. Um… Would you rather… eat vegetables or meat?" he asked with a swift glare in Cyborg's direction before making sure Starfire understood. "Then you would answer what you preferred."

"This sounds quite interesting. I would like to participate," Starfire volunteered, unnecessarily raising her hand. Grinning, Beast Boy shifted his gaze to the other occupants of the table.

"Why not?" Robin shrugged.

"As long as it doesn't involve any shenanigans of yours," Cyborg added, pointing a finger at the green shape-shifter. The smile on Beast Boy's face widened, and he turned to the last member of the team. Leaning over to Raven, he elbowed her shoulder gently so not to irritate her and earn another bruise on his face. Her dark eyes met his.

"Yes?" she asked dangerously.

"Come on Rae, please?" Beast Boy pleaded. "It's more fun when everyone is playing! Besides, we're supposed to hang out together today, remember?"

"Thanks, but no thanks. We can 'hang out' later." Raven reached for her book. "I'd rather read." She had barely flipped a page when Beast Boy decided to pluck the book from her fingers. Raven went ridged, and the whole team sucked in a breath as she started slowly turning onto Beast Boy with a look a lioness might give her prey.

Beast Boy, well aware of what he was doing but foolish enough not to return the book, stepped back. "If you play, then I'll give you back the book." Raven silently moved closer and Beast Boy's courage turned tail rather than facing the girl's anger head on. "O-or I'll give you back the book right now and y-you'll still play…?"

Blackness spread across the leather cover, and the book jerked out of Beast Boy's hand, pausing to hover over his head threateningly. Beast Boy squeezed his eyes shut, prepared for what was to come. He had suffered Raven's wrath before; it was better just to get it over with.

"Fine."

Beast Boy opened his green eyes. Raven's book was in her hands. "W-what?"

"If you're that eager for me to play, then fine, I'll play." She faced him. "But never take anything of mine again or you'll find this book's spine in better condition than yours." Her pale fingers ran smoothly along the leather cover like she was underlining Beast Boy's threat.

Beast Boy nodded, ignoring the cold drip of sweat trailing down his cheek, and faced everyone else. "O-okay-dokey, now that we've finally got a full team playing, who wants to go first?"

"I wish to be the first to engage in this game of Rathering," Starfire offered, again raising her arm. Robin gently pulled her hand down.

"You don't need to do that every time, Star," he informed, "but you're welcome to go first." Starfire nodded at him before scrunching her nose, thinking hard over what she should ask, but also appearing as if she smelled something bad. After a moment, her face cleared. "I have it!" the girl exclaimed. "Would you rather be a stinermite or a snervian blork worm?" The rest of the team, none having the faintest idea what either Tamaranean word meant, glanced at each other.

"Uh, gee Star, that's a hard one," Robin began, rubbing the back of his neck.

"So you give up?" she asked excitedly.

"Uh, not quite…," he continued, trying to decide what choice to take that would hopefully be the least weird. The first word almost sounded like stalagmite, but it was doubtful the meaning was even close to the same thing. The second though, had the word worm in it, and Robin deduced that anything referencing a worm was probably pretty disgusting. "I choose… the stigenmite…," the young detective decided hesitantly.

"Stinermite?" Starfire corrected.

"Yes that."

A small giggle escaped Starfire, but before Robin could ask what a stinermite _was_, she turned to her other teammates. "And your Rathering?" she asked.

The rest of the Titans chose their answers, each response drawing more laughs from Starfire. When they were finished, she had a wide smile on her face. "Oh, friend Beast Boy, you are right; this game is quite enjoyable!"

"Uh, yeah! Glad you like it!" Beast Boy replied quickly.

"Alright ya'll, Cyborg's turn!" Cyborg shouted. "And I've been thinking about this one for a while!" He paused dramatically, leaning back in his chair. He'd considered coming up with a question to embarrass Beast Boy and Raven, but Robin had made him promise to leave them alone which Cyborg intended to do: for now. So instead he produced what he thought would be a difficult question in general. "Would you rather fight Trigon again or have to smell Beast Boy's underpants for a full minute?" His question was a difficult one for the team, save Beast Boy of course, who chose his underwear as he was used to the stench and wore it every day; at least that's what he _said_. A full minute dragged past until the next response. Surprisingly, it came from Raven.

"The latter," she sighed.

"Aw Rae, I'm touched!" Beast Boy placed a hand over his heart. "I didn't know you cared so much!"

Raven rolled her eyes. "It's not a complement."

Robin, after a moment's consideration, nodded. "I'd have to agree. When it comes down to Trigon or laundry day, the end of the world seems a little worse than Beast Boy's underwear."

"True," Starfire corresponded. "The destruction of a planet is not less important than the smell of a piece of fabric."

"I dunno about that," Cyborg muttered, resting his head in his hand. "BB's clothes stink something terrible," He flicked the candy-cane colored straw in his glass, sending it spinning around like a miniature propeller. "I had to do laundry this week."

"Pftttt, everyone has to do laundry, Cy. I don't know why you're complaining," Beast Boy scoffed. "It's not like we _try_ to get them dirty!"

"Yeah, but I don't exactly wear any clothes," Cyborg sniffed. "Why do I gotta clean all ya'll outfits when I don't wear one? I've got enough hours to fill when it comes time to polish my gears!"

"Beast Boy, is it not your turn to offer the Rathering?" Starfire ventured in an attempt to stop the developing quarrel. The shape-shifter took the bait. He stretched his arms out, cracking his fingers.

"You'd bet it is! Prepare to be dumbfounded, newbies! I've got the perfect questions up my sleeves!" Beast Boy already had the game down to a simple science. With his first question, he would have Cyborg and Starfire pitted against each other with their contrary opinions. Cyborg would probably dumbfound Star when he got the chance for another question, which wouldn't be difficult as she didn't really understand the game anyway. Robin would be out next, then Cyborg. Beast Boy would try to keep Raven in as long as possible. It was rare that she was involved in group events and Beast Boy planned to keep her participating for the whole game until he won. It was a shame that the boy couldn't dedicate such focus and commitment to other activities.

"Alright," Beast Boy said. "My question is, if you had to choose, would you rather give up your computer or your pet never to see it again?" Raven and Robin were both very indifferent with their answers, but Starfire promptly proclaimed that she would never trade her snuggly Silky for something cold and hard and non-huggable such as a computer. Cyborg was instantly on his feet, relaying a spiel of information about computers, that they were_ not_ cold and hard and in fact could turn out to be quite warm after several hours of use. The arrival of pizza interrupted their argument. Differences or not, pizza was pizza.

After everyone finished settling down and the slices were dispersed, the game continued with Raven. She seemed uninterested as she asked, "Would you rather always be hot or cold?"

"Cold obviously," Cyborg answered, chewing on a large slice topped with pepperoni, bacon, and sausage. "I mean, I have to walk around with this equipment attached to me all the time, and I'll tell ya, it can get to glacial temperatures in the winter." He tapped his metal shoulder. "I couldn't be better equipped."

Beast Boy responded next, slurping a liter of Coke up his straw and then releasing a burb that could have shaken the whole building. "Easy!" he grinned, wiping his mouth as the team recovered from his public display of uncleanliness. "Hot, 'cause that's how I look to any girls who are nearby!" He kissed his arms where biceps might have been if he had any amount of muscle in the skinny limbs, temporarily forgetting that the only girl he had to worry about thinking he was hot was his "girlfriend". Raven raised an eyebrow, for once keeping whatever retort that was brewing in her mind to herself. Sometimes Beast Boy could make it too easy.

"I agree with Cyborg, but for different reasons," Robin said. "At least if I'm cold, it's not really sticky or uncomfortable; I'm more numb. I would hardly notice after a few hours."

"I choose cold," Starfire decided.

"Really?" Robin questioned. "Why? I'm not saying it's wrong!" he added hastily as Starfire moved to look at him. "I'm just wondering! I only thought you would choose hotness… err..."

An evil smirk spread across Cyborg's face. Just because he couldn't make fun of Raven and Beast Boy didn't mean that Robin was off limits. "Because you were thinking just about how hot Starfire is?" he chuckled.

"No! Shut up!" Robin hissed though gritted teeth.

"Is something the matter, Robin?" Starfire asked, concerning for her friend. "Have you received the burn of sun on your face? You are red!" She reached a hand out.

"I'm fine!" Robin exclaimed, flustered.

"You sure Robin? I think we should have Starfire examine your 'injury'," Cyborg snickered.

Beast Boy joined in. "Yeah! We can leave you two alone while she 'takes care' of you."

"Guys!" Robin's cheeks were now matching colors with the tomato sauce on his plate. Eventually Raven, after having her fill of entertainment at his expense, came to their leader's rescue.

"So Starfire, why did you choose hot?" she reminded, the only hint to her amusement a small glint in her eye.

"Oh yes!" the girl recalled, forgetting about Robin much to the boy's relief. "Tamaraneans are immune to certain levels of the cold."

"That's it?" Beast Boy asked after a moment of silence. "Dude, I thought it would be something so much more exciting after all that, like if you got really cold then you'd gain super awesome powers! Kinda like how that weird pimple thing on your forehead gave you laser eyes!"

Starfire shrugged.

"Gah, whatever. Robin, your turn," Beast Boy sighed. Robin took a deep breath. His embarrassment was slowly fading, along with the red tinge to his cheeks, but his heart still pounded behind his ribs. Due to his humiliation, the leader now resolved to repay Beast Boy and Cyborg in full. How he would do it was the question. He needed something that would affect at least one of them; something that would make them forfeit the game or create unease at any rate. Anything… but what? A mischievous idea crept into his sharp-witted mind and took shape.

"Would you rather," he began, pausing to create dramatic effect, "be entirely human, but at the cost of another's life, or sacrifice your humanity in order to save that person?" Everyone blinked. No one had been expecting such a serious question. All of the Titans, save for Robin, were not truly human: Cyborg was a cyborg, Starfire an alien, Raven a half demon from another dimension, and Beast Boy a green shape-shifter. Robin had been targeting Cyborg and Beast Boy, but unintentionally formed a question that applied to the whole team. Silence filled the air as each person thought how their individual lives might be affected if they were not as they were now. Robin blinked, realizing only now how hard his question was. Suddenly feeling a bit like he was intruding, he rubbed the back of his neck, about to take back the inquiry, but Beast Boy had already opened his mouth.

"I guess… that I would-." Beast Boy was cut off as a large bird shot by in a flurry of white feathers and crashed into an empty table behind them. In a moment the Titans were on their feet, all squabbles temporarily forgotten, for lying on the cracked table was not a bird but a great moth equal to the mass of a slightly oversized microwave.

"Titans!" an infamous voice called, drawing the team's attention to the sky. Hovered above the roof of the Pizza Corner was…

"Killer Moth," Robin frowned. "Escaped from jail again?"

"That's right, Robin," Killer Moth replied, the enormous gray wings attached to his backbone ruffling slightly, "and I have you initially to thank for my time spent in there. This is my way of expressing such gratitude." The oversized moth-man whipped his hand out in Robin's direction, and the moth crouching beside the broken remains of the table came alive. Robin's staff was in his hand within seconds, spinning like a helicopter. The moth rebounded off of his whirling pole and disappeared over the side of the building.

"Is that all you've got?" Robin questioned, but then froze in surprise upon catching sight of banks of airborne moths beside Killer Moth; his little puppets.

"No Robin, that is not 'all I've got'," Killer Moth chortled before he sent the mass of moths forth to attack.

"Man, don't these villains ever learn?" Beast Boy complained as he was swept under the crowd of moths.

* * *

Raven watched the police push a handcuffed Killer Moth into the back of an armored vehicle, no doubt sending the villain back to jail where he belonged. Lying scattered on the surrounding pavement was an abundance of unconscious moths, once again in their original pink larvae forms. The battle had not lasted very long, but left in its wake a significant mess. Raven sighed, removing a gray chunk of fur from her hair. Nothing had escaped the reaches of the moths. First thing she would do when she got home was take a shower.

Starfire had long since flown to the tower to check up on Silky and discover what damage her pet might have caused. Silky had once been a "killer moth" himself before Killer Moth was defeated the first time. Beast Boy had decided it would be a good idea to sneak the larvae into the tower, and then, when he was threatened to be caught, leave it in the hands of innocent Starfire. Eventually the team determined that no real danger would come from the creature and it was deemed 'Silky'. While ultimately Silky was now Starfire's pet, Beast Boy was the one who had brought him into the tower. _And here comes the guilty party now,_ Raven thought as she eyed an approaching Beast Boy.

"Dude! First Dr. Light and now Killer Moth! Is it get out of jail free day?" he asked, brushing gray fur from his shoulders. Receiving no response from Raven, he continued. "Though I guess it was a good thing that Killer Moth interrupted our game. I was about to wipe the floor with everyone!"

"Come again?" Raven raised an eyebrow.

"Well," Beast Boy proceeded, pleased that she had granted him her attention, "the game was all mine; anyone could see it! I had the whole thing planned out up until the very end, Rae. First, there were five. Then there were four, no three! Two! And finally, only one left standing: me! There was no way I could have lost!"

"Such a brilliant plan," Raven rolled her eyes, her words dripping with sarcasm, "but, as I recall, it wasn't even your turn, and Robin had a pretty perplexing question."

"Pft, details, details," Beast Boy scoffed, waving his hand, and ignoring the fact that he didn't know what perplexing meant. "It was only a matter of time."

"Yes, and speaking of time, I think it's about time you wake up to reality. I have no doubt in my mind that you had no chance of winning that game," Raven sighed, turning around. She knew she was only being baited into an argument, and with Beast Boy of all people. He would do anything for a little attention, and alas that was exactly what Raven was giving him. It was so easy though; he was practically begging for the insults. She pulled up her hood, pausing to get rid of another fistful of moth hair hidden in the fabric. The shower, and now the washing machine too, beckoned her.

"Really? And who else would have won?" Beast Boy questioned, the hint of a challenge mounting in his voice. When Raven didn't respond, he frowned slightly. Raven could give a good argument sometimes, but just when she was starting to give a distinct possibility of wanting to battle it out with him, she would just turn away. But, foolishly, Beast Boy wasn't about to give up quite yet. "You can't think _you_ would have won. Come on, Rae, your question wasn't even hard! Funny," he admitted, recalling Robin's embarrassment which had sparked because of the inquiry, "but easy. You could never beat me!" Beast Boy braved.

"I said I'd play; I didn't say that I would try," Raven replied impassively.

"Even if you _were_ trying, there would be no way you could win," Beast Boy stated daringly, "so I guess I understand your reluctance to play when you know you're only going to lose!"

Raven, not one to back away from such a statement, whipped around to face the green shape-shifter. She loomed over him, eyes dangerously narrowed. Beast Boy couldn't help but swallow; perhaps he had gone a little far with such a bold challenge. Raven opened her mouth.

"Would you rather have to kill your friend or your friend have to kill you?"

It could have been a threat, but the way Raven said it was simply like she wanted to know. Although it was difficult to tell; she always spoke in such an emotionless voice. Beast Boy opened his mouth, but nothing came out. With an intimidating Raven so close to him and such a sudden, surprisingly difficult, question, Beast Boy couldn't think of an answer. Satisfied, Raven moved back, subtle victory in her eyes. As she flew off, Beast Boy blinked, trying to understand what had just happened. Only when Raven had disappeared into the distance did he fully realize that he had been bested: again. A slow smile spread over his lips. She might have beaten him today, but he would catch her off guard with something someday. It was only a matter of time.

* * *

**Review please!**


	5. Tolerance

**Yay another chapter! Thank you all again for such wonderful reviews and adding the story!**

* * *

"Beast Boy!"

Beast Boy blinked, coming back to reality from whatever world he had been visiting in his head, and looked up to see Robin watching him with an expectant expression. "Uh, yeah?" he asked, trying to appear as if he'd been paying attention.

Robin sighed, repeating himself. "I was wondering how things were going with Raven?"

Beast Boy stirred his cereal idly, shrugging. "Fine, I think. I'm still standing, so…" He yawned, then, propping his head up with his hand, went on to swirl his spoon around his bowl.

A few feet away, Cyborg sighed. "So, what, nothing interestin' goin' on? Nothing happened last night between you two after Killer Moth?" He frowned. It was hard enough not teasing BB and Raven initially, but there _had_ to be something juicy that was going on, and not telling him would be like taking away his only joy in the world. Well, not really, but Cyborg would be rather disappointed if they didn't update him on their relationship.

"Yeah, like I'd tell you if there was," Beast Boy smirked. "But no,-," he interrupted himself with a quick yawn, "-nothing interesting."

Robin observed the shape-shifter. "Are you sure you don't want to take a day off? I'm sure Raven would be more than grateful." Beast Boy shook his head, about to respond when another yawn escaped his mouth. Frowning worriedly, Robin said, "Maybe _you_ need a break from Raven. You seem really tired today."

Beast Boy waved his hand, pushing away the idea. "No, no, I'm only tired because Cyborg woke me up early yesterday. I need my beauty sleep, dude!" he blamed his friend.

Robin had yet to be convinced. "Are you sure it's not stress? We wouldn't blame you if it was. I think you should just relax today, Beast Boy."

"No, I'm fine!" Beast Boy insisted. He poured the rest of his cereal into his mouth, swallowing it with a huge gulp. "Besides, we need to keep building on Raven and my relationship so we can win the contest!" He jumped from his chair, slugging his orange juice as he went, then threw his bowl and cup into the sink. He frowned. "Where is Raven, anyway?"

Robin tried again. "There's no point in continuing if you're too tired to focus, and I'm sure pushing it will only irritate Raven. Take the day off, Beast Boy." Beast Boy was saved from having to give a response by the sliding open of automatic doors. Raven entered. She had just come down from the roof of the tower where she'd tried to catch up on her meditating. Though the splash of colors from the morning sun usually were soothing, Raven could still feel irritation grumbling throughout her body. Because of the events the day before, she had gotten no chance to find inner tranquility, and now her emotions felt unbalanced. Naturally, she blamed Beast Boy. It was his fault after all; he was the one who insisted they go out for ice cream, which chanced to lead up to the other situations during the day. She really should have also held Cyborg and Robin at fault, because it was those two who came up with the bonding idea originally, but Raven did as she always had done and blamed Beast Boy. It was out of habit that she thought Beast Boy responsible, but it was this one time she happened to be wrong with her accusations.

So when the first person's voice she heard was Beast Boy's, it was only natural that she scowl and turn away. Poor Beast Boy had no idea what he was in for when he called her over. When her response was to ignore him, the shape-shifter was confused. Was he in trouble somehow? He'd thought things were going well! "Hey Raven," he called again. "Ready for another day together?"

Raven grimaced, pulling up her hood when she faced Beast Boy. "Couples _do_ spend time apart, you know."

She had such an aggressive tone that Beast Boy was taken aback for a moment. He recovered quickly. "Y-Yeah, I know, but we only have three or so weeks to get our relationship up to a high level! We have no time to rest, and we've only been going out for a day and a half!"

Raven could feel her anger threatening to expose itself. "You need to get it through your head that we are not actually dating," she snapped.

Cyborg smirked, leaning over to Beast Boy. "Good luck today, man," he chuckled. "And to think: she's all yours."

Robin, thinking that his point about needing a break had more than proven itself, tried to convince Beast Boy again, but he'd hardly opened his mouth when Beast Boy, seeing what Robin intended to do, suddenly pushed Raven out the door. Robin only had time to call, "Beast Boy-!" before the shape-shifter exited.

"See ya Robin!" his voice could be heard from the hallway.

"What," Raven asked as the doors slid shut behind her and Beast Boy, her anger temporarily washed out by confusion, "was that all about?" She brushed her arms off where Beast Boy had pushed against her. Beast Boy gave her a naïve look, opening his green eyes wide like an innocent puppy, and Raven glared at him, her irritation back at full strength. "Don't look at me like that. You know what's going on." Only now realizing how cross Raven was at him for reasons unknown, Beast Boy obliged to her request, and, as he did when he was nervous, started rambling.

"Uh, nothing really. Robin just said that he thought that maybe we should take a break from our relationship because he thought I looked tired which wasn't really true but it was, but only because Cyborg woke me up yesterday and I needed my beauty sleep and Robin thought that it was because of other reasons but I said no it wasn't and he said that we should take a day off because other than me looking tired you might need a break from me and now I'm thinking that maybe he was right?" Beast Boy's voice had steadily been escalating higher as he spoke and he finished in a squeak.

Raven blinked.

"Um, yeah," Beast Boy rubbed the back of his head. "So I was thinking that maybe you should decide where we go today, since I kinda chose yesterday." Raven frowned; he _had_ chosen yesterday. She was in such a bad mood that she had forgotten it was she who'd asked him for ideas the day before. "So," Beast Boy started, "have any place where you-."

"The library."

Beast Boy's ears drooped. "The library? Really? Are you sure you don't mean the… arcadeorzoomaybe?" he coughed. A scowl from Raven told him otherwise, and Beast Boy sighed, drooping over. "Okay. Lead the way." He motioned with his hand for Raven to go first like a gentleman might, but really because -though he wouldn't admit it- he wasn't exactly sure where the library was.

* * *

Heading toward what was sure to be the most boring day of his life, Beast Boy trudged down the sidewalk, dragging his feet as he went. Raven walked briskly ahead of him, looking forward to the silence and tranquility that the library brought, along with a reprieve from Beast Boy's annoying comments. If he got kicked out for talking too loud, Raven had no intention of following him through the exit. Lost in the fantasies which Raven conjured for herself, including complete and total silence -which was all she really wanted today- she didn't realize how fast she had been moving until her feet hit the front steps of the public library. She was halfway up the stairs when she remembered that she had a partner, however unwanted, with her. Sighing, she turned around.

Beast Boy was a block away walking, more like crawling, at an excruciatingly slow pace. Inch by inch, he shuffled toward his destination with the speed that a child going to the dentist might use. Growing more exasperated, Raven's impatience got the best of her, and she flew over beside the boy. "Planning on going anywhere within the next five inches anytime soon?" she demanded. Beast Boy gave no response. "Beast Boy!" Raven snapped, crossing her arms. Beast Boy shook his head and met her eyes. "You know, I don't think either of us wants you to be here. You can leave," Raven stated plainly.

"Come on, Rae," Beast Boy complained with half the vigor he typically used. "We need to work on our….." His words trailed off in the middle of his sentence and his gaze dropped back to the ground.

"Need to what?" Raven growled, impatience prickling her skin.

Beast Boy blinked. "What?"

"Need to what?" Raven repeated. "You just spaced off in the middle of what you were saying!"

"I did? Oh," Beast Boy apologized. "Sorry. I didn't mean…"

"You just did it again." Raven, at last pushing her anger aside, tilted her head and inspected Beast Boy. "Robin was right," she decided. "You are distracted."

"What?" Beast Boy lifted his head. "How did you know that? Were you eavesdropping?!"

"No, you told me, remember?" Raven reminded, taking it easier on him because she was getting a little worried. "And Robin talked to me about it earlier." She paused, observing the dark circles under his eyes and his worse than usual posture. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Beast Boy insisted. "Come on, let's go to the library." He'd taken a single step when he found Raven blocking his way. Her eyes glowed purple at him from within her hood. Beast Boy was certainly _not_ fine. He had just persisted to go to the library, a place that he'd never visited in his life to Raven's knowledge. Beast Boy sighed, straightening. "Honestly then? I was up all night thinking about stuff."

"What stuff?"

"Well, I dunno. Video games, food, the usual. But then, you know that game we played yesterday when we were getting pizza? The question that Robin asked popped into my head, and I suddenly couldn't stop thinking about it. Then your question came up too," Beast Boy added, "and between those two things, I got no sleep."

Raven was thinking. Robin's had been very difficult; she still wasn't sure what her answer would have been. And her question wasn't exactly easy either, but in no way had she planned for Beast Boy to take it as a serious problem. She'd only been trying to prove a point, which Raven had assumed she'd done well. Raven shook her head. She was still angry at Beast Boy, she reminded herself, but it was getting harder to keep the same level of resentment with him as she now felt responsible for the way he was acting. His spacing-out was unusual, even for Beast Boy.

"So," Raven said quietly, "what did you decide?"

Beast Boy opened his eyes wide. Raven never took interest in him unless she had to, but then again, at least she wasn't yelling at him anymore. Her mood swings could be scary, but maybe she was feeling more generous now. "For Robin's question?" he asked. Raven nodded. "Um," Beast Boy began, "I didn't really come up with much of an answer. It's been distracting me all day. I don't know." He shifted his position. "But I think if I was faced with that choice, right here and now with you, I'd rather keep my powers so no one would die. It's not worth losing someone's life just so I can have a normal one. Besides," he added with a grin, "normal is overrated anyway."

Raven actually smiled. Beast Boy had just shown her a part of himself she'd only seen a few times before, his more serious side, and it wasn't insufferable. In fact, it was kind of… "Nice," Raven said. "Beast Boy, you don't really want to go to the library, right?"

"Well, of course I do! Any place where my girlfriend wants to go…" Beast Boy stopped, kicking at a clump of dirt on the sidewalk. "No, I really don't."

"Let's make a deal then. We go to the library for half the day, and then you get to choose the second half to do whatever it is that entertains you."

"Really?!" Beast Boy broke into a broad smile. "Are you sure, because-?"

"Don't make me think it over twice or I'll change my mind," Raven interrupted, hiding a smile. "Now come on, we're wasting my half of the day."

"Hey Raven?" Beast Boy called, something having just dawned on him. Raven faced him. Rubbing his arm self-consciously, the shape-shifter asked, "If we're going into the library, don't you need a library card or something?"

"Yes," Raven replied, unsure where he was headed with this. Beast Boy grinned sheepishly and Raven caught on. Rolling her eyes to the heavens, she muttered, "You have got to be kidding me."

* * *

"Wow, I thought it'd be bigger somehow," Beast Boy observed, holding his brand new library card out to examine it. Printed on an ocean-blue square in big bold letters were the words JUMP CITY LIBRARY CARD, and then in smaller font below a whole bunch of numbers and letters that Beast Boy hardly took the time to look at. He was too absorbed by the glossy plastic covering the paper. "And it's shiny too! Coooool!"

Raven sighed, shifting the large bag of popcorn cradled in her arm. The two Titans were standing on a black platform that Raven had conjured up, flying at a comfortable pace in the direction of the Tower. "I cannot believe you've been looking at that thing all day. I dare say that it entertained you more than the animals in the zoo did. Nice choice for a place to go, by the way," she added. "Stinky animals, loud kids, and the greasy food all added up to give me a lovely headache."

"Whatever, Rae," Beast Boy scoffed, sitting down on the edge of Raven's magical platform and swinging his feet through the air. "You didn't seem annoyed by all that when you were chowing down on that popcorn I bought ya. And I thought _I_ ate fast!" Raven shrugged. She hadn't had lunch, and besides her breakfast, it was the first thing she'd eaten all day, so it was natural she ate quickly. "You sure you don't want to finish off that bag you've got there?" Beast Boy asked with a grin. "It'd probably take you thirty seconds." In response, Raven tossed the half-full bag to him, hitting the boy in the head, and spilling buttered popcorn everywhere.

"Help yourself," she replied. Despite her cold attitude, Raven was actually feeling quite the opposite from what she had that morning. The time she spent in the library had been enough to calm her temper, and then afterwards she and Beast Boy finished the day together at the zoo. Regardless of their rocky start, both of the Titans had endured an enjoyable day. Beast Boy had even checked a book out from the library. A comic book, yes, but it was still a surprise.

Raven landed on the shore beside the Tower, dispersing her magic as she touched ground. Beast Boy jumped to his feet and matched his pace with hers, tossing what popcorn was left into his mouth as he moved. In between his chewing, he asked, "Well, what did you think of the zoo, Rae?"

"It was okay," she replied, "but I see you change into animals like those all the time. Next time, we'll just put you in a cage and save our money."

"But you had fun," Beast Boy prompted.

Raven sighed like she was bothered, but her heart wasn't in it. "Yes," she confessed. "I did have fun."

"Yes!" Beast Boy pumped his fist in the air. "Success!" Raven rolled her eyes and they entered the Tower. Inside, Cyborg and Starfire were sitting on the sofa, watching T.V.

"Please Cyborg," Starfire said, "what is this '_love battle'_ which they speak of?"

Cyborg, remote in hand, frowned and leaned back against the couch. "Well ya see Star, those two girls like the same dude, and so they are competing with each other to get him while the guy is completely oblivious to it all. Apparently this stuff happens all the time in real life." Raven and Beast Boy glanced at each other, a small smirk on both of their faces. They had just discovered where it was that Cyborg learned about relationships: Jersey Shore. Neither of them had ever seen the show, but it was popular enough that they recognized it.

"So, Cyborg," Raven said, causing the robotic Titan to jerk with surprise. "Enjoying the show?" Cyborg, caught, spluttered uncontrollably, his face blushing bright red. Beast Boy snickered.

"Cy, I knew you were into relationships and all, but this show? It's garbage, dude," he grinned, walking forward and leaning against the side of the couch. He threw a kernel of salty popcorn into his mouth. "It's not even real. They set up everything ahead of time."

"What?!" Cyborg exclaimed, his embarrassment overcome by fury. "Yes it is! You just can't set up some situations that go on in this show! How would you know anyway? You've never seen it!" Beast Boy shrugged and threw another kernel into his mouth.

"Care to tell us how this… obsession came to be?" Raven asked, walking up beside Beast Boy.

Cyborg was silent for a moment, wondering if there was any story or lie that he could tell which would get him out of such a humiliating situation. When he realized that there wasn't, he sighed and gave in. "Starfire was flicking through channels one day and came across this show. She didn't understand anything which was going on, especially some of the phrases they used, and so she asked me for help. There was no one else in the room, so naturally I obliged, with great care though," he added, noting that some of the words, if not most, were inappropriate for an alien girl new to Earth's ways. Robin would be shocked, not to mention upset, if Starfire started repeating such sayings. "Eventually, I was hooked. And now I can't stop watching it!" he whined. "Every time I tell myself that I'm going to turn off the T.V., another episode comes on! I need help!" Cyborg cried, grabbing Beast Boy and shaking him.

"Yes, you do," Raven stated.

"Duuddee, you're ssppillingg the poppcoorrrnn!" Beast Boy complained.

"Popcorn?" Cyborg stopped rattling the shape-shifter and drew his attention to the bag. "Where did you get popcorn?" He paused, a mischievous smirk spreading over his face. "Did you two go on a date to the movies?"

"No," Raven said firmly.

"Uh, uh, you're not going to do that to me." Cyborg shook his head, waggling his finger. "You've been holding out on me, haven't you? You won't tell me anything that's going on with you guys, so when I've caught you, you lie! But you're exposed this time. You went on a date to the movies! Where else do you get popcorn?!"

"Uh, how about the carnival?" Beast Boy asked.

"Perhaps the grocery store?" Starfire suggested from her seat on the sofa.

"Or the zoo," Raven glowered, "which is actually where we went today."

"Ooo, the zoo!" Cyborg crooned. "How romantic!"

"How is the zoo romantic?" Raven asked. "It's the furthest thing in the world from romantic."

"Besides the library," Beast Boy added, grinning.

"What are you two talking about?!" Cyborg cried. "The zoo has tons of potential to be romantic! Walking in the shade together, hand in hand, and watching all the peaceful animals sleeping is a great date! Take a stroll through the music of the songbirds, or maybe laugh at the cute monkeys climbing on the trees! I'm sure you guys just did it wrong. If I ever have a girlfriend, the first place I'm bringing her is the zoo!"

"Which would maybe explain why you don't have a girlfriend now," Raven muttered.

Cyborg ignored her. "You're going back to the zoo tomorrow, and this time doing it right! I'll make sure you two are head-over-heels for each other before you can count to three!" In between his reveal of the Jersey Shore show and the need to seek revenge, Cyborg seemed to have forgotten Robin's warnings about teasing. "I can see it now," he said, staring into space. "The first kiss will be under a shady tree. You'll be holding hands and stare deep into each other's eyes."

A blush had settled on Beast Boy's cheeks. Cyborg was way too into this stuff, or way too good at revenge. He glanced at Raven and glimpsed a color change as well, but it wasn't a blush like he'd expected. It was her eyes. Instantly his embarrassment was forgotten. "Um, Cy?"

"One of you will lean forward," Cyborg continued without acknowledging Beast Boy. "And the other will respond and gently press your lips together."

"Dude! Cy, stop!" Beast Boy exclaimed, backing away from the sofa.

"And in between it all you'll think, 'Boy am I glad Cyborg had us go back to the zoo!'"

"Cyborg!"

Cyborg, finally turning around, looked up to see Raven towering over him, her eyes burning red and shadowy tentacles slinking out from her cloak. It was the same as when she'd pulled Dr. Light into darkness a long time ago. Cyborg realized he'd gone too far, but it was too late. Raven shot her tentacles at him, and only due to pure luck did she miss. Cyborg yelped and dove behind the couch. Raven was moving forward after him when Beast Boy suddenly wrapped his arms around her from behind, holding her back.

"Raven, come on! It's okay! Calm down!" he cried. "Cyborg was joking!" Beyond reason, Raven whipped around, throwing Beast Boy off of her. He slid across the floor and came to a painful halt at the bottom of the stairs. Her initial target forgotten, Raven advanced on Beast Boy. The red in her eyes glowed with dark menace as she peered down at her prey. Beast Boy cringed at her feet. "Raven," he said, wincing as the tentacles drew closer. "Rae, it's not that bad! Come on, please!" A cold tentacle wrapped around Beast Boy's leg, and Raven looked down at the boy's pleading expression. A flicker of recognition flashed across her face, and she squeezed her eyes shut. Her cloak slowly retracted to its normal size and the tentacles vanished. Raven took a deep breath and opened her eyes, their red color fading away. She noticed Beast Boy on the ground in front of her.

"Beast Boy?" she murmured. Beast Boy sat up, rubbing the back of his head. Raven knelt down beside him. "Are you okay?" she asked, her expression pained. It had been a long time since she'd felt so angry, and if she'd hurt her friends while the emotion of anger had been in control...

Beast Boy recognized the uncommon worry she was displaying and was quick to smile. "I'm fine!" he assured, bounding to his feet. "It'll take more than a little demon power to take down this tough guy!" When Raven continued to look anxious, he toned it down. "I mean, I'm fine. Really, it's okay. Are _you_ okay?" he asked, knowing how problematic things could get when Raven exploded like that. Raven nodded, looking at the ground.

"Is it over?" Cyborg peeked out from behind the couch, Starfire beside him. When he found no more signs of danger, Cyborg stood up, wiping his brow. "Phew! For a minute there I thought we were all going to-." He cut off, seeing Raven standing in the center of the room next to Beast Boy. "Ehhhh, I mean…"

"Dude, seriously?" Beast Boy asked, glancing at Raven. The girl turned away.

"I should go to bed," she mumbled, the doors sliding shut behind her.

As soon as she was gone, Beast Boy turned on Cyborg. "Dude! Why did you go off and tease us like that?! Do you know what could have happened?!"

"Uh, no…"

"Me neither!" Beast Boy exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "And I don't want to find out! I saved your robot butt, so I think at least a little thanks is in order! That could have been you about to be pulled into a black abyss, dude!" Cyborg gulped. Raven's mirror had been scary enough; he didn't want to see where evil tentacles could bring him.

"All right. I'm sorry man," Cyborg apologized, rubbing his neck. "I'll leave you guys alone." And he meant it, though who knew how long it would be until he forgot and broke the promise. "At any rate, now everything's okay, so we don't have to worry anymore about anything, especially scary demon attacks."

Beast Boy glanced at the doors were Raven had exited. "I hope so," he sighed.

Starfire walked over to the two. "Does this mean that the explanation of the Shore of Jersey is over for tonight?" she asked.

* * *

**Please review!**


	6. Emotions

**This chapter is going to be a little bit shorter than the others, but it stopped at a good place, and I'm also updating a little earlier, so I hope that makes up for it. Thank you all for the fantastic reviews! I can't believe how many people are reading this! I really appreciate it that you've been giving such wonderful comments, and it just makes me so happy when I read them!**

**To the Guest who asked what time this was placed in, it is placed after Things Change, and after Trouble in Tokyo. Sorry, I just didn't know how else I could contact you.**

**Okay, on to the story!**

* * *

Bare branches of the forest reached out to Raven, the darkened limbs surrounding her on all sides. The woods went on for as far as she could see, but above her was a brilliant full moon. No signs of life were apparent, not even wild creatures scampering through the dead and dying undergrowth. The air smelled like hot ash. Raven was undeterred. She'd been in creepier places before, including in her own mind. What did surprise her was that she had no memory of how she'd gotten to this place. Wrapping her cloak close to her body, Raven tried to push her way through the barricade of twigs, but she was stopped by a familiar chilling voice.

"Going somewhere, Raven?"

Raven faced the speaker, who was hidden behind the branches. She squinted, trying to see who it was. A jolt hit her in the chest and she stepped away as if struck. "No," she breathed. "You're…"

"Surprised, Raven? I wouldn't blame you." The person, if that's what it was, moved closer, almost melting through the branches. "If I were you, I'd be surprised too." They emerged, the moonlight shedding light on the mysterious person's pale skin and red cloak. "Oh, wait," they paused, placing a slender finger to their chin. "I _am_ you."

"Rage," Raven choked. "How did you get out of my head? Where are the other emotions?"

"Does it matter? I'm here now, Raven," Rage advanced, her eyes as crimson as her robe. Raven swallowed, retreating as far as the branches would let her, but Rage just leaned closer. Soon she was inches from Raven's face. Rage grinned widely. "But if you must know, they're gone. Dead. I'm the only emotion now. You didn't feel the others enough, and now I'm all that's left. You weren't happy, sad, or brave. You didn't even care." She sneered. "Now, I really _am_ you."

With a cry, Raven broke apart the boughs and sprinted through the opening. She didn't get very far, as the forest was thick, but she gained distance between her and her other self. She stumbled onto the ground, dirt stinging her palm as she landed, and turned around to face Rage, who was calmly floating in her direction. "Raven," the doppelganger began, "what our question really should be is, where are our friends?"

Raven clenched her fists, black aura surrounding her arms. "What have you done to them?"

"What have _we_ done to them, I think you mean," Rage corrected, fading away. A shiver claimed Raven, and she stood, carefully making her way through the trees from where she'd come. At first, everything seemed normal, but when she looked to her right there was a tunnel where there hadn't been one before. Seeing no other choice, she walked down it. It opened into a larger clearing, seemingly no different than the rest of the mystic forest.

"Raven!"

Raven whipped around at her name, and was relieved to see her friends standing nearby, unharmed. She stepped toward them, about to ask what they were all doing here, and then paused. They weren't looking at her, instead above with frightened expressions. Unable to help herself, Raven looked up. Rage was there, the demonic grin wide and red magic swelling around her hands. She glanced at Raven. "What _have_ we done?" she asked wickedly.

"No!" Raven screamed, but her doppelganger was already in action. With a swing of her arm, Rage sent a wave of power over the Titans, catching Cyborg and Starfire in the blast. Their skin crackled and hardened, forming a stone cast.

"Raven! What are you doing?!" Robin yelled. Beside him, Beast Boy stared at the stone statues with wide green eyes. Rage just smirked and clenched her fingers into a fist. From underneath Robin rose black hands stained with red streaks, and they attached to his ankles. Robin struggled, pulling at the hands, but their crimson nails dug into the skin and would not let go. With swipe of Rage's arm, Robin too was transformed into rock. With an expression of pain, Beast Boy took a step away from the girl he thought was Raven.

"Raven, please!" he cried. "We're you're friends!" Rage sneered. Beast Boy closed his eyes and, leaping at her, morphed into a tiger. Rage held a hand out and conjured a shield of red. Unable to dodge it, Beast Boy ran headfirst into the solid blockade. Stunned, he morphed back into a human. Before he could fall, Rage grabbed him by the neck. Where she touched him, stone spread across his skin.

"Stop, Rage!" Raven shouted, thrusting her hand in the air in the doppelganger's direction. A wave of black extended from her fingertips and cracked against Rage's chest, shoving her away from Beast Boy, who dropped to the ground. Raven conjured a platform and caught him before he hit. She flew to his side as the platform sank to the dry earth. The stone had already spread across most of his body. Taking a deep breath, Raven held a hand over his chest, trying to heal him with her powers and praying that she would be able to dispel the rock. She had to save at least one of her friends. However, before she could act, Rage slipped her arms around her from behind and held her back. "No!" Raven cried, struggling, but it was over before it had started. Within barely a few seconds, Beast Boy was changed into pure stone. Releasing Raven, Rage threw the statue of Beast Boy into the others with a flick of her finger. "No," Raven gasped, crouching on the ground and clutching her hair. "No, no, no! Not again!" she sobbed.

"What is it, Raven?" Rage asked, suddenly beside her. "This is what we have done. This is who you are, and always have been. This is because you didn't feel enough. But why fight it? Don't be scared." Rage placed a freezing hand on her shoulder. Raven shook her head, closing her eyes. This was something she had always feared: herself. "Come now, Raven. Don't be afraid. After all," Rage leaned forward, whispering, "I'm all in your head."

* * *

Raven's shrill scream woke the entire tower. Fearing the worst, the Titans gathered at her door without a moment's hesitation, the majority of them remembering the night Adonis had broken into the tower and attacked her. Even through Beast Boy had saved her, she'd still been injured that night. Whatever had caused her to shriek like she had moments ago, it had to be bad. "Raven?" Robin called to her through the wall. "Raven are you in there? Say something if you are." There was no response. "Raven, we're coming in," Robin declared, stepping back in preparation to kick the door down.

"No," Raven's soft voice came from within, stopping the leader. "No, I'm alright." She sounded different than she usually did, her voice almost heavy, though it could have been from waking up. "I just… had a bad dream. Sorry to have woken you." The Titans exchanged glances with each other, unsure what to do. Raven always wanted time to herself, but her scream had rattled all of them. If she wanted comfort, it was unlikely she would ask for it. Robin moved forward, about to see if she needed anything when Raven murmured, "You can go."

Heeding her request, and at Robin's reassurance, the Titans slowly were convinced and faded back in the direction of the bedrooms, all save for Beast Boy. As Robin paced away, Beast Boy caught his arm. "Wait, Robin," he said. "We're going to leave her, even after a scream like that?" Robin sighed and faced the shape-shifter.

"Beast Boy, we can't convince her to let us into her room. You know what she's like, probably more than most of us, when it comes to that kind of thing. She told us to go, so that's what we should do." Robin glanced at her room. "Some people just need time to themselves to sort things out. Don't bother her, Beast Boy," he instructed, and then he too walked down the hall to sink into his bed for some much needed sleep, but Beast Boy remained. Despite what Robin's streak of being right in the past, he couldn't help but think that this time his leader was wrong. Facing Raven's door, Beast Boy bit his lip and gently rapped on the wall. As he'd expected, there was no answer.

"Raven?" he called, hushed. "Um, it's me. Are you okay?" Again, Raven gave no response. "Robin said we should leave you alone, but I wanted to know if you're okay. I mean you sounded like something was really wrong…" He laughed nervously, rubbing his neck. "Uh, can I come in maybe? It's kinda weird talking to a wall." Silence followed his request, and Beast Boy had been about to leave when a sound caught his attention. Whether it was because Raven remembered the times that Beast Boy had comforted her in the past or because she really did need someone to talk to, she let the door slide open. Cold air and shadows greeted Beast Boy. Swallowing, he stepped inside the room and took but a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dark. It was as creepy as it had been when he'd seen inside previous times, with the strange masks and the gloomy curtains, not to mention full bookshelves, lining the walls. If there was one thing that Beast Boy was terrified of more than anything else, it was learning. At the midpoint of the room was Raven's bed. The purple covers were sprawled randomly over the mattress and pillows lay on the floor. Huddled at the heart of the bed was Raven, a small snowy sheet wrapped around her. She was facing away from Beast Boy. Outside her window, a slight drizzle of rain danced on the glass.

"Raven?" Beast Boy started, although he wasn't sure what it was he was going to say yet. He didn't need to worry however; Raven spoke before he finished.

"Do I…," she murmured, her voice surprisingly hoarse, "show emotion?"

"What? Of course you do!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "I mean, you yell at me all the time and threaten to send me to the moon every other day-."

"Other than rage?" Raven interrupted sharply.

Beast Boy raised his eyebrows. Something was clearly wrong. In spite of her severe tone, a tremble had crept into the words she spoke. She pulled the covers closer around her body, and a shudder claimed her body. Was Raven _crying_? "What's wrong, Raven?" Beast Boy asked, taking a step closer. Raven jolted, and, still not looking at him, stood and approached the window. Her blanket hung from her shoulders as she placed a pale palm against the glass. Beast Boy watched her, silent. Robin had been right in a way. Raven did need to think over things, but Beast Boy wasn't certain she needed to do it alone.

Raven took a deep breath. "I had a dream. A nightmare," she corrected with a shake of her head. "An emotion had gotten out of my mirror: Rage. She… I killed all of my friends because of her. She said there weren't any other emotions left besides her because I—I didn't feel them enough. I wasn't happy or sad enough. I didn't care. I wasn't… human enough. But what if she's right?" Raven tightened her fingers into a fist, black aura enveloping her hand for a moment before it died. "What if she's right?" she whispered. Raven dropped her hand to her side. "I know that Trigon is gone, but I am still his daughter. I'll always be half of a demon, and I don't want my evil side to be a reason that the team is in danger." She pulled the sheet closer around her body, as if trying to keep the horrible power that dwelled within to stay inside of her, like it could break free any second.

"What are you talking about?" Beast Boy walked over to her and Raven looked at him. Her eyes were tinged red, not from anger but from crying. Beast Boy smiled, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Sure, there will always be a bad side to you, but that doesn't mean there isn't a good one too. I know you have good in you, Rae; we all do. And we all have things about us which will put each other in danger, but that doesn't mean it makes us evil."

"What about today though? I could have killed you," Raven said, swallowing.

Beast Boy shrugged. "Come on, our lives are always in danger, Rae. I hardly can tell what's a battlefield and what's not half of the time anymore." He paused, looking at her seriously. "When my primal side was discovered, you told me that having something dangerous inside didn't make me an animal. Knowing when to let it out is what makes me a man. Even though you also have something dangerous inside, we trust you to know when to let it out, Raven." Raven dropped her gaze at the ground, saying nothing, and Beast Boy wondered if he'd said the wrong thing.

"Thank you," she murmured, so quietly that he wasn't sure he'd heard her right.

"What?" he asked.

A soft smile appeared on Raven's face. "Don't make me repeat myself. It's hard enough saying it to you once." Beast Boy widened his eyes, an astonished look on his face. Then he broke into a wide grin, his canine tooth glinting. Raven rolled her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, but a yawn escaped instead. "W-what time is it?" she mumbled. Beast Boy shrugged and glanced at the clock. It read 1:34 a.m.

"We should probably get to bed," he suggested. Raven nodded, gliding over to her mattress. With Beast Boy's help, she fixed the sheets and placed the pillows back in their original position. Raven floated onto the bed, crossing her legs as she landed. After another yawn, she slipped under the covers. Beast Boy turned to leave her to fall asleep when she called, "Beast Boy?"

He moved beside her. "Yeah, Rae?"

Raven drew him close to her, placing her arms around him in a warm hug. Beast Boy stiffened with surprise. It was the second time Raven had ever hugged him, the first time when she'd had her heart broken. This embrace though, was gentler, more meaningful. Her heart had been broken before, and Beast Boy had passed her actions off as a way to get over Malchior. Now though, there was no evil dragon and no broken heart. Beast Boy relaxed and let his arms drop to return the embrace. Raven pulled her mouth to his ear.

"Now get out of my room," she whispered, her breath warm on his skin. Beast Boy smiled. It was still the same old Raven. He moved away and walked to the entrance of the room. With a quick glance at Raven, who was already under the covers, Beast Boy closed the door behind him.

* * *

**Review please!**


	7. Surprises and Wishes

**Again, I'm so grateful for the amount of reviews I've gotten, not to mention how many people are following this story. I get excited just thinking about it!**

* * *

"Good morning, Raven! Ready to go on our first official date?!" Beast Boy exclaimed, looking up from his seat the kitchen table. It had been several days since Raven's late night scream, and the other Titans had all but forgotten about it. The morning after had started somewhat tense when Raven entered, but after Beast Boy attempted to tell a joke to lighten the mood and Raven lightly responded by dumping his bowl of cereal onto his head, everyone knew things were back to normal. A week had passed, and Beast Boy decided it was about time they take a step up on their relationship.

"First date?" Raven raised an eyebrow, her cup of tea flying to her hand. "Haven't we been going on dates this whole time?"

Beast Boy shook his head. "No, of course not! We've just been hanging out like friends do! It's not like we've gone to the movies or a romantic restaurant or anything!" He looked at the other Titans, who were sitting nearby at the table, to back him up. They nodded.

"He's right, Raven," Cyborg stated, spearing his eggs with a fork. "Dates usually consist of romantic places, like the movies, and not like the library. Although," he paused playfully, "according to some people, a couple isn't dating until they've had their first kiss."

"And how would you know that, Jersey Shore boy?" Raven countered without pausing a beat. She sipped her tea as an embarrassed Cyborg rubbed the back of his head, grinning sheepishly.

"Um, what?" Robin interrupted, confused as he hadn't been filled in on Cyborg's latest obsession with the show.

"Err, I uh…," Cyborg spluttered. "That is… Beast Boy! Where are you bringing Raven on your first date?!" he inquired abruptly. Raven smirked, leaning back in her chair.

"Why should I tell you Cyborg?" Beast Boy asked, lifting a green eyebrow. "So you'll come spy on us or something? Dude, I'm not _that_ stupid. And not a word from you, Rae!" He cut her off quickly before she could comment that he 'could have fooled her'. Raven hid a smile. He was learning.

"But please friend Beast Boy!" Starfire pleaded. "Could you tell us where it is that you and Raven are going on the date? I would like very much to know." Beast Boy frowned, thinking over her request, and then shrugged. Leaning over to her, he whispered in the girl's ear. Behind them, Robin and Cyborg drew closer, trying to hear what was being said, but before they could successfully eavesdrop, Beast Boy moved back. Starfire clapped her hands together with joy. "What a wonderful idea! Robin and I should go there!" She turned to her leader. "Would you go there with me someday, please Robin?"

"Once I find out where _there_ is," Robin replied, scratching the back of his head. "What's with all the secrecy, Beast Boy?"

"Well, for one, I don't want this nosey robot to show up while we're on the date," Beast Boy jerked his thumb at Cyborg, who huffed. "And two, I want it to be a surprise! What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't make the date interesting?"

"A normal one, probably," Raven said. She figured that it took a dual effort to set up everything and not be bored the entire time on a date, though she'd never been on a real one. Dates never had appealed to her. At least she wasn't denying that Beast Boy was her boyfriend anymore.

"Well, then I'm not a normal boyfriend!" Beast Boy grinned.

"I'll say. You're green and hardly ever take a bath," Raven retorted, impassive. While Beast Boy tried to come up with a comeback and Cyborg was laughing his head off, Robin had to smile. Beast Boy and Raven loved playing off of each other, no matter how much the two might deny it. Robin wouldn't have expected it a week ago, but the two kind of made a good couple. Even so, the team would have to wait to see how long it lasted until they grew sick of each other. According to Starfire, there had been a close call one night while Robin was out. He didn't know the details, but he assumed it had something to do with Raven's powers especially. Everything seemed fine now though.

"Alright Rae," Beast Boy grinned, "but you're coming on this date with me, and I know you're going to love it." Raven looked doubtful, but, smiling, Beast Boy assured, "Trust me on this. You'll have a great time! Meet me back here at six tonight." Raven was still cynical. "Please, Rae? I'll even give you a hint to where we're going!" Beast Boy suddenly grabbed her hand and widened his eyes in a pleading expression. The other Titans gasped and dove behind the couch, preparing for a sudden explosion of magic from Raven, but she just rolled her eyes.

"Fine," she sighed, allowing Beast Boy to pull her through the main doors. The remainder of the team glanced at each other with surprised faces.

"Well, that's new," Cyborg stated.

* * *

Sitting on her bed with arms crossed, Raven stared at her window with a hard look of concentration. Actually, it wasn't the window she was focusing on; it was the vase set on the table in front of it. Beast Boy's hint consisted of a single red rose. She recalled the big grin he'd had on his face when he'd handed it to her. Raven didn't know whether he was just trying to be cute or had really provided her with a clue to their upcoming date. Whatever the reason, the events of the approaching night had given her the entire day off, most of which she used to meditate and read. It had been a nice break from their constant hanging out together. She glanced at the time and saw five minutes to six o'clock. Beast Boy had told her not to dress up; they weren't going anywhere fancy. Raven doubted that was because he couldn't afford any place extravagant. She immediately scolded herself. Beast Boy had bought a lot of things for her during the past week, despite her refusal for him to continue doing so after the third day. She wasn't helpless; she could buy herself food if she was hungry. Yet Beast Boy ignored her wishes, though he did back off a little if she wanted anything big.

Sighing, she stared again at the rose. It was a strange contrast to the other colors in the room, which consisted for the most part of black, purple, and blue. The scarlet flower was dark enough that it didn't stick out, but was bright enough in color to be noticed. She let her gaze drift out the window. The sun was hovering over the horizon, threatening to set. What did Beast Boy plan for them to do when it was almost dark outside?

Almost as if in response to her thoughts, a knock came at the door. Know it could only be him, Raven levitated off of her bed and floated over. Praying that Beast Boy wasn't wearing some weird clown outfit, meaning they were going to the circus or he was going to try to make her laugh again, she opened the door. Thankfully, Beast Boy was not wearing a comedic guise; in fact, he looked very much the same. He had on his standard Doom Patrol outfit, a familiar grin plastered to his face, and his green hair sticking up haphazardly as usual. The one difference was that he was hiding something behind his back.

"Do I dare ask?" Raven uttered.

"Nope!" Beast Boy smiled, his canine tooth glinting. "And even if you did, I wouldn't tell you! It's a surprise!"

"Of course it is." Raven paused, glancing down the hallway. "Weren't we supposed to meet in the main room?"

Beast Boy shrugged. "Yeah, but I didn't want those snoopers in there to trail us, and I figured you wouldn't either." Raven nodded. "So, in order for us to sneak out, want to teleport us into Jump City?"

"But wouldn't that ruin the surprise?" Raven asked, smirking somewhat. Beast Boy shrugged once more and Raven rolled her eyes. "Alright, where to?"

"The Video Dome!" Beast Boy answered at once, naming the well-known video rental store located at the center of town.

"This is already starting out to be such a great date," Raven groaned, waving her hand. A sheet of black washed over her and Beast Boy, and they were teleported into Jump City. She and Beast Boy appeared in an alleyway beside the game store, and, after walking out of the shadows, Raven faced her date, crossing her arms. "So, what's behind your back?" Beast Boy grinned.

"Surprise!" he cried, not removing his hands from behind him and instead just beaming widely. "This isn't where our date is taking place!"

"Oh, thank goodness," Raven breathed with a quick look at the store next to them. The red and green neon light announcing VIDEO DOME flashed continually over and over from above. Beast Boy was always coming back from the store with some movie he wanted the rest of the team to watch with him. At first they'd humored him, but in the end they all created routine excuses why they could not to go to his movie night. The main reason was that Beast Boy's choices for films were very similar, all consisting of either horror or comedy shows that weren't funny, which was perhaps a hint to where Beast Boy got his taste in humor.

"Yep! Tricked you, huh?" Beast Boy seemed proud before what Raven had said actually sunk in. "Hey, wait! What's wrong with the video store?"

"Nothing." Raven rolled her eyes, changing the subject. "Where is our date then if it's not here?"

"A few blocks away," Beast Boy admitted. "Come on, it's this way." Raven fell into step beside him, thinking that she could just teleport them there faster and get the date over with. She wasn't opposed to spending time with Beast Boy anymore; she just didn't want to have to do it for long periods. As they walked down the sidewalk together, she couldn't help but notice that he was careful to keep whatever was in his hands hidden. She didn't understand what it was about him and surprises, but it was slightly intriguing: slightly. Beast Boy stopped and Raven looked around. Were they there?

"Ready for another surprise?" Beast Boy questioned.

"I don't know if I could handle any more," Raven sighed, "but we might as well find out."

"Keep walking," Beast Boy instructed, pointing in the direction he wanted her to go, "and I'll be right back."

"Beast Boy, if I keep going, then I'll…" Beast Boy was already gone. "End up in the park," Raven finished. She dropped her shoulders and followed Beast Boy's instructions, seeing no other choice if she wanted to find out what his surprise was. She had to confess, she was getting curious to what Beast Boy had prepared, especially since he was taking such precautions to make sure she didn't find out ahead of time. Then again, Beast Boy was always energetic. He was forever running around, so maybe he wasn't acting much different. Raven stopped at the entrance to the park and scanned her surroundings. No sign of Beast Boy. She doubted that he'd forgotten about her; she'd only been walking for a minute, but Beast Boy was a teenage boy and did have the attention span of a goldfish. Ironic, since she'd seen him transform into one several times. With a sigh, Raven walked into the park.

The sun was now cut in half by the horizon, and the sky looked like an artist had spilled their paint cans all over it. Long shadows had begun to stretch across the grass and the temperature was dropping, though it was hard to tell much difference in the middle of summer. There were a few people still around, most beginning to pack up their things and call their kids or dogs back to them so they could head home. Raven passed by them all, searching for a certain green human. She followed the main path deeper and deeper into the park. Soon she was nearing the center, and her patience had grown thin. "I swear, when I find him I'm going to shove him into a tree and…" She died off as she reached the middle of the park. Under a large tree was a small picnic basket placed on top of a blue blanket. There were small plastic plates beside the basket, along with forks and cups. Standing above it all was Beast Boy, a wide grin on his face.

"Ta-da!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands out to the side. "Surprised, Raven?"

Raven stood emotionless for a moment, surveying the scene before her with silence. Suddenly she turned on Beast Boy. "Surprised?" she repeated, walking slowly toward him. "You have me walk all the way through the empty park at six at night to have a picnic and expect me to be surprised?!" She stood nose-to-nose with him now, and Beast Boy could feel sweat dripping down his collarbone. Raven softened, almost smiling. "Because I am." Beast Boy gave a nervous laugh as she shifted back. "The basket is what you were hiding?" He nodded. Raven lowered herself to the ground, crossing her legs. "What did you bring?" she asked, inspecting it.

Relieved that she wasn't going to kill him, Beast Boy knelt down beside her. "Well, I figured that you wouldn't want tofu, which is what I brought for myself. But for the lady," he said, reaching in the basket, "I have provided delicious… ham and cheese sandwiches, accompanied by ice cold water!"

"Huh," Raven said, taking her food. "I would have expected something fancier on a first date."

Beast Boy rubbed the back of his head, blushing. "Well, I would have made something else up, but I can't cook very well. I figured you would want edible food instead of charcoal." He recalled the times he'd tried cooking in the past and how they'd all ended in explosions or dust. Still, he preferred it over Starfire's alien glop when faced with the choice. "The only thing I know how to make is tofu stuff."

Raven swallowed a bite of her sandwich. "If it makes you feel any better, these sandwiches taste fine," she assured.

"But the best part is dessert." Beast Boy reached into the basket again and withdrew a box of cupcakes. "They're sugary and messy; that's the best kind of food! Not to mention they have frosting!"

"I thought you couldn't cook," Raven reminded.

"Oh, I can't. I bought these at the store," Beast Boy grinned.

"Then they sound delicious."

The two finished their dinners quickly and moved onto dessert soon after, chatting throughout their meal. By then the sun had set all the way behind the horizon and a sheet of stars lit up the night. The park was large enough that the city lights did little to hide the twinkling sky from view. Raven found herself observing a patch of roses nearby. She of course now understood Beast Boy's hint, but now another thought had occurred to her. She bit into a cupcake.

"Beast Boy," she began, and he turned to her, "I was thinking about your hint. Were you going to give the rose to me whether or not I wanted to know where we were going?"

He laughed, running a hand through his hair. "Well, I kinda figured you would want to know no matter what, so I just came prepared."

"That's true." Raven looked at him. "But would you have given me the rose?"

Beast Boy opened his mouth to reply when something else caught his notice. A streak of light darted across the sky. "Dude, a shooting star!" He jumped to his feet and ran out from under the tree to get a better look. Raven had to roll her eyes. He had _worse_ than the attention span of a goldfish sometimes.

"What, you've never seen a shooting star before?" she asked, walking over to him.

"Of course I have!" Beast Boy replied. "Just… not for a long time!" Raven grunted, close to a laugh. Beast Boy looked at her wide-eyed, unable to believe that she'd almost laughed at something he'd said. Raven lifted an eyebrow.

"What?"

Beast Boy hastily moved his attention back to the sky, smiling to himself. "Nothing, nothing." He sat down on the grass, placing an arm on his knee. Raven joined him, leaning her own arms against her knees. "Aren't you supposed to make a wish after you see a shooting star?" Beast Boy asked her.

"If you want," Raven replied.

Beast Boy pondered what to wish for. World peace? Naw, it was too mainstream. More video games were always a good wish, but he could buy those with money. He figured that the wish should be for something that he couldn't buy, or at least something that was mind-blowing expensive. No, this had to be something very improbable that he could ever get. Glancing at Raven, an idea struck him. Closing his eyes, he thought '_I wish that Raven will laugh at one of my jokes someday. And not kill me afterwards,'_ he silently added. That was something he thought for sure would never happen without a little help from a shooting star.

"What did you wish for?" Raven's voice interrupted his thoughts.

He opened his eyes, grinning. "I can't tell you. It won't come true if I do!"

"Uh huh," Raven said, leaning back and watching him doubtfully. "Don't necessarily expect it to come true either way."

Beast Boy dismissed her advice with a shrug of his shoulders and looked back up at the star-scattered sky. After a minute of thought, he pointed at a bright cluster of stars. "Hey, aren't there supposed to be like animals in the stars or something? Constipations or something?"

Raven bowed her head, swallowing hard, and tried desperately not to crack up with laughter. Beast Boy was at his funniest when he wasn't trying to be. "Constellations, I think you mean," she said, recovering.

Beast Boy caught her expression and furrowed his eyebrows. "What was wrong with the thing I said?"

"N-nothing," Raven guaranteed, again smothering her hilarity. "Nothing at all." _Just don't go repeating it to other people_, she thought. Beast Boy, certain that she was hiding something from him, frowned and looked back at the sky. Raven also returned her gaze to the stars, but after a moment glanced at Beast Boy. "Do you know at least where the North Star is?" she asked. His sheepish expression spoke for itself, and, sighing, Raven pointed up. "Find the Big Dipper first," she directed. "You _do_ know where the Big Dipper is, right?"

"Of course! It's right over… Um…" Beast Boy waved his finger in big loops across the sky. Raven rolled her eyes.

"There," she assisted.

"Right!"

"Okay, now going from the bottom of the Big Dipper-."

"Wait, like the bottom bottom," Beast Boy interrupted, "or the side bottom?"

Raven looked at him like he was crazy. "What?"

"Well, it's kind of tilted on its side, so do you mean the bottom of it like it was a normal spoon or the bottom from where we see it? The bottom for us?" He was clearly confused, as Raven was also, but because of what he was saying instead of the star positions.

"Uh… T-the first one," she stammered. Shaking her head, she focused back on the North Star. "Now going in a straight line off of the bottom—the 'bottom bottom'— a little further in this direction, you'll see the North Star. It's a little brighter than the rest."

Beast Boy looked at it for a moment. "That's it? Dude, that's so lame! All that work to find a lousy star? My head hurts!"

"Mine too," Raven agreed, heaving a sigh and rubbing her temples. "Ready to go back to the tower?" Beast Boy nodded, and helping Raven to her feet, they headed over to the picnic basket and packed up their things. As she folded the blanket, Raven spoke. "This was… enjoyable. Not nearly as bad as I expected a date to be."

Beast Boy tilted his head. "So… you liked it?"

"As my only date I've ever had, yes, it makes number one on my list," Raven answered, suppressing a smirk. Beast Boy, despite the disclaimer to her words, grinned. As far as he was concerned, they'd had a breakthrough tonight. Raven's almost laughter was a first, and in his mind he made it a personal goal to get her to laugh freely before they finished dating. And with the help of the shooting star, he might be able to obtain his objective. With these thoughts, Beast Boy faced Raven, throwing the picnic basket over his shoulder as he faced her, and was surprised to find her grasping an unconcealed rose in her hand. Raven caught him looking at her, and, with impassive violet eyes, held the scarlet flower out to him.

"What's this for?" he asked, examining it.

Raven folded his fingers over the stem. "Think of it as a thank you," she smirked, stepping back. "And a reminder that you never answered my question." Beast Boy opened his mouth, but, waving her hand, she cut him off. "No, it's fine. I don't really need to know." A blanket of black swept over the two Titans, Beast Boy smiling as Raven teleported them back to the tower.

The instant Beast Boy and Raven appeared in the main room in the tower, Cyborg was all over them. "Where have you two been?" he cried, jumping up from the couch where he and Robin were watching 'manly' football. Robin had been updated on the whole 'Jersey Shore' incident, and was trying to help Cyborg kick the habit by watching sports. Robin had also made the comment that they make sure Starfire didn't watch the show anymore either. There were enough things he had to worry about her picking up in the real world without help from television. "We were wondering if you two had forgotten about your own date!" Cyborg exclaimed. "Why didn't you meet up in here like you said you were going to?! It's ten thirty!"

Raven looked at him emotionlessly. "Why would that be important to you, Cyborg?"

"We-well," Cyborg faltered, "I want to know where my friends are at! What happens if you went missing or are attacked, hm?" he asked, sitting back up on the top of the couch, certain he had recovered well.

Having been careful to hide Raven's flower from sight the instant they'd entered the tower, Beast Boy called from where he was putting leftovers in the fridge. "Dude, Starfire knew where we were and we have our communicators with us. I don't think you'd have any trouble finding us."

"Speaking of which," Robin interrupted, muting the T.V., "where _did_ you go? Starfire wouldn't tell." Raven glanced at Beast Boy, who shrugged and nodded. It didn't matter to keep it a secret anymore.

"The park," Raven answered emotionlessly, "on a picnic."

"That," Beast Boy added, sliding over beside her, "I prepared."

"Really," Cyborg said, disbelieving. He knew first-hand how bad Beast Boy was at cooking. He leaned over to Raven. "Did he feed you charcoal or tofu? Either way, was it like eating dirt?" he whispered.

"Dude, I am right here," Beast Boy reminded.

Raven gave Cyborg a cool look. "I had a pleasant meal." Beast Boy acted triumphant while Cyborg was surprised. He hadn't expected Raven to defend Beast Boy, but then, as Cyborg always assumed, maybe something juicy had come up.

"So," Cyborg started, placing his hand in his chin and swinging his feet back and forth like a gossiping girl chatting with her peers, "do anything interesting?"

"I learned about stars!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

"Star," Raven corrected. "A star. Singular."

"Anything else?" Cyborg provoked.

"Uh," Beast Boy shrugged, "we had cupcakes."

"Ooo, cupcakes?! Where?!" Cyborg cried, instantly alert and forgetting all about his gossip session. Beast Boy pointed to the fridge and Cyborg dashed over, finishing off what cupcakes were left. While Cyborg was shoving food into his mouth, Robin tapped Raven on the shoulder.

"Before I forget, you two had a call while you were out," he said.

Beast Boy and Raven exchanged glances, confused. "Who from?" Beast Boy asked.

"Remember a while ago when I was talking about interviews?" Robin questioned. The two teens nodded. "The people from your competition called and they're talking to people ahead of time since some of the parts of your show are going to be live. They want information soon, so tomorrow afternoon you'll be going over to their studio for an interview as a couple." Robin pointed to the counter. "I wrote down the address on a piece of paper over there."

Raven and Beast Boy again glanced at each other. They'd only just gone on their official first date, and were expected to have an interview about their relationship the next day? Raven sighed. "This whole dating thing just keeps getting better and better."

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**Please review!**


	8. Complications

**Yay, another chapter! I always get so excited when I post another one because I know that I'll get such awesome reviews from you guys! It makes me so happy!**

**And to LBud, I would like to introduce Beast Boy to you, but I think he has things to worry about at the moment, one of the being Raven and the competition, not to mention the interview he's about to go into! ;)**

**I hope you enjoy it!**

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"Are you Miss Raven and Mr. Beast Boy?" a lady with frizzy black hair and a bright pink shirt leaned in close to the two Titans, shoving a microphone under their noses.

"U-uh…," Beast Boy spluttered, completely caught off guard at such a sudden question. The lady in pink laughed.

"Just kidding! I know who you are! Who wouldn't recognize two of the Teen Titans?!" She laughed again, big and boisterous, and slapped her hand on the back of a poor cameraman who stumbled forward, almost dropping his microphone. Beast Boy joined in nervously before Raven elbowed him to stop. It was bad enough with one crazy person in the studio. "Okay! So now that we've established who you are, let's get to interviewing! Sit on down over here!" The lady guided them to a large couch with flower print set in front of a white wall that looked way out of place in the dark studio. Wherever Raven stood, it was either too hot or too cold. Under the bright lights the temperature was scorching, and the other sections of the room were dark and freezing because the air conditioner was on high in order to keep the film equipment cool.

"Sit right down here and face this way, you two! We'll have a camera nearby, but just ignore it. Act like you're talking to me and only me!" the lady exclaimed.

"Oh joy," Raven muttered beneath her breath.

The lady spun away. "Prepare them for the camera!" she cried. Instantly Beast Boy and Raven were swarmed over by the crew asking a majority of questions that were drowned out by each other. With a clap of her hands, the lady in charge was quick to rearrange everyone into a straight line. First up was the make-up staff. While half were trying to find some color to match Beast Boy's skin tone, the other half were attempting to get Raven to put her hood down. "Would you please remove your hood so we can see your face, Miss Raven?" a younger boy asked. Raven took one look at the brush and mascara in his hand and crossed her arms.

"I'll remove my hood when I want to, not so you can splash make-up all over my face," she stated stubbornly. She turned to Beast Boy, who was desperate in an effort to keep the crew away from his hair. Once it was discovered that none of the make-up that they had matched either of the Titan's skin color and someone gave the mention of circus make-up, Raven growled to "just get on with it, will you?" The face paint was quickly forgotten and they were moved onto the microphones.

"Here you are," a man with shaggy brown hair and a checkered shirt handed them each a small microphone chip.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Raven asked, impatient.

The man smiled. "You hook it somewhere that the camera is not going to see it, like on the back of your shirt or inside your collar; or hood, in your case. Under normal circumstances, we just use our large microphone, but we've been having a few difficulties with the technology recently and want to have these as back-up in case we don't catch the sound." Beast Boy had already clipped the chip on the back of his outfit, and so Raven moved to do the same.

"Here, let me get that for you," Beast Boy offered, fastening the microphone to the side of her hood. She gave him a questioning look and he lowered his voice. "We might as well play up our relationship around the people that count, right?" Raven rolled her eyes, but didn't object when he took her hand in his. The last group of people was an assembly men and women who gave the Titans a long and unnecessary description of what to do and what not to do on camera. Once they had moved away, Beast Boy whispered to Raven, "What did they say? I kinda spaced out after the first sentence."

For once, Raven didn't blame him. "Basically don't look at the camera and don't use offensive language if you can help it."

"Ah."

"Okay, are we ready to start rolling?!" The lady appeared again, just as animated as before. "Yes? Alright, let's get going then! I've got an appointment in an hour that I don't want to miss!" She sat herself in a director's chair, a pile of notes in her hands. Tapping the papers on her lap, she looked over at the cameraman, who nodded. The woman crossed her legs. "So, introduce yourselves please! Names and occupations."

Beast Boy was confused. "But you already know who we are. You said so yourself."

The woman smiled patiently. "Yes, but this is so the audience knows."

"But you said anyone would know two Teen Titans."

Raven groaned, elbowing him. "Just do as they ask, Beast Boy."

He shrugged and faced the camera. "Uh, well my name is-."

The lady interrupted. "Please don't look directly into the camera." Beast Boy grinned, rubbing the back of his neck, embarrassed. The woman glanced at Raven. "Not the smartest fellow on the block, is he? But he's a looker, am I right?"

Raven smirked, pulling down her hood. "Sure."

"Uh, lady?" Beast Boy asked.

"My name is Charmaine," she informed.

"Uh, Charmaine. So I'm saying this stuff so the audience knows who we are even though they already might?"

"Yes. Think of yourself as a celebrity and you are only stating the obvious."

It was the right thing for her to say, because Beast Boy's eyes lit up. "Ohhhh! Okay, I get it now!"

"Alright then, let's try this again from the beginning. And, rolling!" Charmaine cued the cameras. "Okay, so introduce yourselves please. To me," she added when Beast Boy opened his mouth.

He nodded. "Okay. Well, my name is Beast Boy and I'm a Teen Titan." He paused, wondering if he'd said what he had needed to. Charmaine beamed an encouraging smile, and then looked pointedly at Raven.

"Raven, and also a Teen Titan," she stated impassively.

"Great!" Charmaine looked at her notes. "Would you mind telling us where you first met?"

Beast Boy smiled charismatically at her. He was taking the whole celebrity idea to heart. "We met the first time when a bunch of aliens had attacked Jump City! We met our other teammates then too!" He and Raven had agreed the night before to try to keep as close to the truth as possible, so it would be easier to remember everything they said. He had stuck to the plan so far.

"My, that's… exciting," Charmaine said, for once at a loss for words.

"Yes, it was exciting," Raven repeated, "and dangerous." She recalled when she'd spoken to her friends the first time. She had been a lot shyer then she was now, but that was also because she was worried about getting close to people because of Trigon and the prophecy surrounding her birth. Now that Trigon was gone, she didn't have to worry about such things anymore. "After that the Teen Titans were formed, and we built the Tower to stay in so we could watch over the city."

"So what I'm hearing is…," Charmaine began, tapping her finger against her chin, "you two are living together?"

Realizing that her words could easily be used against her, Raven stammered. "I—I guess you could say that, but…"

Beast Boy came to her rescue. "Yeah, we're living together, but we're also living with the rest of the Titans. It's more like being in different apartments that are in the same building." Charmaine, smiling at him, nodded and jotted down something on her notes. Raven gave Beast Boy a relieved look.

"And I'm guessing that you've had your first kiss already?" Charmaine asked, not looking up. At the lack of silence, she glanced at the Titans. Raven and Beast Boy both wore uneasy expressions. "What?! No first kiss?" They shook their heads. "Not even a peck on the cheek?"

"No," Raven said firmly.

"We've hugged though," Beast Boy added, trying to help. "We've just been dating a few weeks." Technically it was close to the truth. A week and a day or so _was_ more than one week, so he wasn't breaking his agreement with Raven.

"Hm," Charmaine tapped her pencil against her lip, scanning over the papers in her hand. She smiled. "When you were friends first -which I assume you were- did you ever think you would get together?"

Raven's answer was instant. "No."

Beast Boy hesitated. "Um… Well…" Raven looked at him incredulously and he laughed. "At one point it crossed my mind," he admitted, running a hand through his hair. Charmaine, having found an interesting situation set before her, placed her head in her hands and let them talk. "A while ago, anyway," Beast Boy said.

Raven narrowed her eyes. "When was a while ago?"

Beast Boy rubbed his arm. "Well, I dunno… Some time back I thought you were cute."

"You thought I was… cute?!" Raven couldn't believe what she was hearing. Neither could Charmaine. She grinned, leaning forward, but her movement caught Raven's attention.

"Next question," Raven demanded, shooting a look at Beast Boy that said _we will discuss this later._ He laughed nervously. Disappointed, Charmaine sighed, continuing with the interview.

"How did you start dating?"

Again, Raven and Beast Boy were quiet, thinking. Raven answered first. "It was a… bet of some kind." There was no way out of this one without a lie; she couldn't say that they started a relationship for the show and only for the show.

"Yeah," Beast Boy agreed, unable to come up with anything better for an answer. "And then we just… kept dating after it was over." Sounded good enough to him.

Charmaine glanced at her watch. "Alright, we have one more question and then you're free to go. What do you plan to do with the money if you win?" Raven frowned. She hadn't even thought about the money. Of course she and Beast Boy were going to split it, but other than buying books, Raven had no real plans. Beast Boy though, did have ideas in mind.

"Well, we're splitting the money, and I'd like to get a moped scooter, because, dude, I love those things! We'll upgrade a few of the Tower's defenses, but after that, I think I'll give the rest into the Pizza Corner downtown. They've wanted to add a new wing for a while," Beast Boy smiled.

Charmaine nodded thoughtfully. "Generous. And Raven? What about you?" Raven just shrugged.

"Hey, speaking of money," Beast Boy interjected, "how much do we get if we win?"

Charmaine grinned. "The prize is ten thousand dollars, but that's only first place. You come in any lower and there is no prize."

"We'll just have to make sure to get first then!" Beast Boy answered.

Charmaine smiled. "The best of luck to the both of you. And that's all we need." She signaled to the cameraman and stood. "Thank you Beast Boy and Raven," she said, shaking their hands as a cameraman removed the microphone clips. "We can't wait to see you in two weeks. The exit is that way. Goodbye for now!" she called as Raven and Beast Boy walked out of the studio. As soon as they were outside, Beast Boy grinned.

"I think we did okay," he stated.

Raven rolled her eyes. "We can only hope that they found your lack of understanding in the beginning cute instead of stupid." She paused, remembering a section of the interview. "And when exactly did you think we were going to possibly date?" she huffed. "When in the world did you think I was cute?!" To her astonishment, Beast Boy brushed her anger off with a wave of his hand.

"Relax, Rae. It was just for the show," he said. "We have to give them something to work with."

Raven frowned. "Next time work with _me_. The whole thing could have turned out differently if we had continued the conversation."

"It'll be interesting to see the commercial for the show," Beast Boy observed, partially to change the subject before Raven got angrier and partially just thinking out loud. "We'll get to see our competition." Raven was certain he was thinking about Tear. She sighed.

"I'm going to head to the library," she told him, pulling up her hood. "I need to pick up some new books."

"Okay. Want me to come?" Beast Boy offered.

Raven shook her head. "No, I know you don't want to go there. Besides, it'll take just a moment. Go on back to the Tower without me." Beast Boy nodded and, transforming into a pterodactyl, flew off. Raven spread her arms apart at her sides, and a wave of magic transported her to the library. She appeared at the base of the building, and was about to head inside when she heard a sound from the alleyway nearby. Without a sound, she glided to the entrance of the back street. In the darkness, she could make out about five forms, four circled around a crouching figure.

"Please, take the money! Just leave me alone," the smaller person whimpered.

"What fun would that be?" one of the shadows inquired. They pulled something from a pocket, holding it above the other person, who whined. The object glinted as it was brought down, but before it could make contact, however, a streak of black and white light shot through the alleyway, knocking it to the ground. "What?" the shadow gasped, holding their hand. Raven stepped forward, her hood up and features emotionless.

"Go," she said to the crouching figure. The person got to their feet and scrambled out of the alley, revealing themselves to be a young boy. He cast a fearful glance over his shoulder as he disappeared around the corner. Raven stepped in front of the exit, preventing the remaining occupants of the backstreet from leaving. The figure holding their hand straightened and moved into the light.

"Well, if it isn't Witch of the Teen Titans," Tear said, sneering. If Raven was surprised to see him, she didn't show it. "Where's your boyfriend, the Grass Stain?" the bully mocked.

"_Beast Boy_ isn't here," Raven replied.

"Oh, shame," Tear clucked, shaking his head. "I suppose I'll have to deal with just you then." He held his hand out behind him, and one of his gang pressed a knife to his palm. Tear spun it between his fingers thoughtfully. "See, I was thinking that if you were too injured to compete, then me and my girl would have a better chance at winning and getting all that money. I never expected the Grass Stain to accept my challenge in the first place," he declared, "but it's not too late to drop out of the competition. You know," Tear smirked, "before things get ugly." Raven didn't move, and Tear shrugged. "Your choice," he sighed, then lunged at her with his blade without warning. Raven dodged to the side. Tear whirled around on her, again slashing with the knife. Once more, Raven evaded the attack, and this time countered with a strike of her own magic. A black and white wave leapt from her hand, enveloping Tear's arm.

"Did you forget that I have powers?" Raven asked him as he struggled against it.

Tear sneered. "No. That's why I have backup." Two shadows rose over Raven from behind, and, realizing she'd been tricked, she spun around to face the new threat. She had enough time to see the thick outlines of a net coming down on her before the two gang members shoved her to the ground, pinning her arms at her sides. The net was laid on top of her, like extra assurance that she wasn't getting away. Raven fought as best she could to free herself, but the gang members were strong and she was outnumbered. She groaned, unbelieving that she was having so much trouble with a non-powered group of criminals. Tear approached her, scraping his thumb over the knife.

"I warned ya," he sighed, starting to lean in.

Raven closed her eyes, gathering her power. "Azarath," she murmured, "Metrion."

"What's that?" Tear paused.

"Zinthos!" Raven shouted, and an explosion of magic burst from her, shredding the net and knocking away Tear's gang members, including Tear himself. As he was thrown into the wall, he dropped his knife, and Raven felt a slight nick from the blade scratch her upper arm. She got to her feet, brushing the remains of rope off of her shoulders. She should have handled that better; maybe she needed to take a few more rounds in the practice room at the Tower. Robin _was_ alwayssaying the team should use it more. Sirens sounded, and Raven decided it was time to take her leave. After a moment of concentration, she disappeared in a pool of magic and emerged from the shadows beside the Tower. Before she entered the Titan's headquarters, she did a brief check over herself. The only injury she had obtained was the slash on her upper arm. She could have healed it, but the cut wasn't a big wound, barely noticeable if she looked at it, and it didn't even hurt anymore. She would just hide it behind her cloak until it healed itself; the Titans had no need to worry about something so small. Satisfied with her condition, Raven walked into the Tower.

The other members of the team were all in the main room, which was a bit of a surprise as most of the time they went their different ways toward nighttime. Robin and Starfire were sitting on the couch together engaged in conversation while Beast Boy was popping popcorn in the microwave. Next to him, Cyborg had opened the fridge and was now raiding it for drinks. Raven walked down the steps. "What is everyone doing here?" she asked. At the sound of her voice, the teens looked up from their activities.

"Hey Raven," Robin greeted. "You're just in time for the movie."

"Movie?" Raven lifted an eyebrow. "We're actually watching something that Beast Boy chose? I thought we agreed not to do that anymore."

"Well, tonight is different!" Beast Boy exclaimed, sliding in front of her. "I've found something that I think everyone will like!"

"That's a surprise," she stated impassively, sitting down on the couch alongside Starfire in her usual place.

Beast Boy looked at her with a strange expression for a moment. "What, no books, Raven? I thought you were going to the library."

"I changed my mind. What are we watching?"

Beast Boy smiled. "Prepare yourself for a night of action, horror, romance, and comedy! I have found the perfect show for a group of teenagers such as ourselves! There are terrifying monsters, enormous battles, lovey-dovey parts, and cry-because-you're-laughing-so-hard scenes! It includes-."

Cyborg disrupted his performance. "We saw this presentation like ten minutes ago, man. Just get the movie rollin'," he complained, slurping at his giant liter of soda. Beast Boy shrugged and pushed the disk in and then jumped back to sit in between Raven and Cyborg, a bag of popcorn already set up on the table in front. The lights dimmed, and the movie began. The plot told of a brother and sister who were trapped in another dimension with no idea how they'd gotten there. All they knew was that they had to find a portal home before the aliens on the planet killed them. It seemed pretty straightforward at first, until a twist in the plot revealed that there were more humans trapped somewhere on the planet and in need of rescue. As Beast Boy had promised, there was action, romance, comedy, and a little horror.

The movie stretched on, the only disruptions being Starfire's occasional question to what a phrase or word meant. Raven found her eyes starting to droop and shook her head. The day had worn her out more than she'd anticipated, even though she hadn't felt like she'd done much. Again her head began to fall forward, and once more she snapped herself out of it. Understanding that she wasn't going to stay awake the whole movie, Raven lay her head back against the couch, this time letting her eyes close all the way. She was asleep in a minute.

Ten minutes to the end of the film, Beast Boy grew aware of a small weight pressed against his arm. He glanced down and, finding the cause, stiffened. In her sleep, Raven had slid over the sofa and was now leaning on Beast Boy's shoulder, breathing softly. Beast Boy's eyes widened. If she woke up to find herself in the position she was, he had no doubt she would find a way to blame him, and then he would have a brand new bruise before he could say "It's not my fault" or "I'm sorry". Suddenly thinking of the other Titans who might make fun of the position they were in, Beast Boy peeked at the nearby occupants on the couch. He was relieved, but a little offended, to see all but Robin also curled up in their sleep. His movie wasn't that boring, was it? Still, it had provided him with an opportunity to get out of a potentially painful situation. He shifted, preparing to move, but then with another look at Raven's resting form, stopped. _Maybe until the end of the movie,_ he thought, relaxing against the couch. The movie ended ten minutes later, with the brother and sister at last escaping back to Earth together with their newfound friends. They were rejoined with their families and all lived "happily ever after". The credits rolled and then the movie was over. It was dark outside now, and the room itself didn't have much light, for all the lights had been turned off because of the movie. Robin carefully placed Starfire on the couch, for she had fallen asleep on his lap, and got to his feet. He looked over at Beast Boy, smiling.

"Need some help?" he whispered, gesturing to Raven.

"Naw, I got it," Beast Boy murmured, grateful that the one person who was awake was the least likely to make fun of them. Robin nodded and left the room without another sound. Doing as he'd seen Robin do, Beast Boy slowly lowered Raven so she rested facing upwards on the couch and was now in the same position as Starfire. As a second thought, he slipped a pillow under her head. He had just moved back when Raven sighed a little in her sleep and rolled onto her side. Her cloak fell back from her shoulders, which was when Beast Boy caught sight of the cut on her arm. Frowning, he tried to remember if it had been there before. When he decided that it hadn't, but also determined that Raven was probably hiding it because she didn't want the team to worry about her, he adjusted the cloak again so that the injury was hidden. Beast Boy did wonder where she had gotten it, but it was so late at night and he was so sleep deprived that he didn't give much thought to it. Putting the image in the back of his mind for a later date, he walked around the couch and headed in the direction of his own bed, already prepared for what dreams were to come.

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**Review please!**


	9. Replacing Memories

**Again I have a little of a shorter chapter, _but_ I updated earlier to make up for it. This was a difficult chapter to write and I hope everyone stayed in character. **

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"Aw, look at the widdle baby Cyborg all curled up in his sleep."

Cyborg creaked open an eye, his systems switching on. Above him were Beast Boy, Starfire, and Robin, all grinning with what seemed to be evil expressions. In fact, the single individual with such a look was Beast Boy. Starfire actually thought Cyborg looked adorable while Robin was just smiling at the sight of his teammate stretched out on the sofa. In the kitchen, Raven rolled her eyes and went back to preparing her tea. Cyborg sat straight up, turning a little red.

"Did the widdle baby Cyborg have a nice nappy-poo on the couchy-wouchy?" Beast Boy cooed in baby-talk, clutching his hands together.

Cyborg snorted. "I'll show you who's gonna take a nappy-poo!" he roared suddenly, leaping to his feet. Laughing, Beast Boy scurried ahead of Cyborg, who continued on to chase him in circles around the room. The two tired after about sixteen laps, and in due time made their way over to the table where Robin had cooked pancakes. It was a rare occasion that the entire team ate breakfast together, but Robin had felt like doing something nice that morning, and no one was about to pass off free pancakes. The Titans each took their share, and before long, everyone was munching on the golden-brown meal.

"So dudes," Beast Boy began with his mouth full, "what did you think of the movie last night? Pretty good, huh?"

The rest of the team glanced at each other, all but one having not finished watching it. Robin smiled. "I thought it was interesting," he offered.

"Yes, most enjoyable," Starfire added, nodding.

"Meh," Cyborg shrugged, still irritated at Beast Boy for waking him up like he had.

"Considering I didn't see the whole thing," Raven said, "it was fine." She'd woken up around three in the morning on the couch to see Starfire and Cyborg passed out on either side of her. Grateful that they weren't awake to see that she'd also been asleep for so long next to them, she'd faded into her bedroom and went back to bed. Unknowing to her, Starfire had opened her eyes a few minutes later and likewise made her way into her own room, while Cyborg had gone the whole night through without waking, and therefore had suffered accordingly at the words of Beast Boy that morning.

"Beast Boy," Robin said, changing the subject, "how did the interview go yesterday? We never got a chance to hear about it."

"Oh," Beast Boy thought about it. "Well, as I said to Raven afterwards, I think we did okay. I tried to play up our relationship a bit." Raven sighed. Yes, he had.

"So BB, what the real question is," Cyborg interrupted, having forgotten about being mad at his friend due to the mention of the competition, "how much money would you win?"

Being the dramatic boy that he was, Beast Boy paused theatrically for a moment before answering. "Ten thousand dollars." The shocked silence around the table was absolute, save for Raven, who sipped her tea and rolled her eyes.

"T-that's a lot of money," Robin stammered.

"But just for first place," Raven reminded. "Anything lower and there is no money."

"That just means we have to win!" Cyborg exclaimed unexpectedly, standing up and slamming his hands on the table. Raven snorted. _We_? Cyborg was already imagining all the potential equipment he could buy with such a large quantity of money. "I'll start coaching ya if I have to!" Cyborg cried. "Training starts now! Get up and hold hands! Maybe add a little hug in there somewhere, or a quick smooch!" Raven and Beast Boy didn't move, looking at him with frowns on their faces.

Raven crossed her arms. "Um, no. I pity whatever being falls under your training for such a thing."

Cyborg huffed angrily, taking pose that a boxer in a fighting ring might use. "You wanna go, Rae? Bring it! I'll show you that I know more about relationships than you ever will!"

Raven shook her head. "I refuse to have a battle of wits against an unarmed opponent."

While Cyborg was stammering for a response, Robin spoke up. "Actually, Cyborg is right." Cyborg blinked, surprised that the leader had agreed with him, and then grinned at Raven as if he'd known all along. "You and Beast Boy will need to step up your game if you want to win against other real couples." Robin reached into one of the many pockets on his utility belt and withdrew a colorful flyer. The rest of the Titans leaned in closer to look at it. "You guys know that old amusement park down by the beach that's been abandoned for a while? Well, it's reopened recently and I was thinking we should go. Crime has been lying low as of late and we might as well have fun. They've constructed a few more rides and games. What do you say, team?" Robin leaned back in his chair. "I've got no additional plans today, and it should give Raven and Beast Boy a chance to practice building their relationship, not to mention it would be good for their publicity as a couple."

"The park of amusement?" Starfire asked. "It sounds like a wonderful idea, Robin!"

"I'm up for it man!" Cyborg grinned, giving him thumbs up.

Raven shrugged.

"I guess then we're going!" Robin determined, getting to his feet. "It should open around ten this morning, so how we've got an hour until we can enter the park. Let's meet up at the T-car five minutes to ten?" The other Titans nodded and then dispersed in different directions to go about their business until then, all save for Beast Boy.

Watching them go, a familiar pain he hadn't felt in a long time touched his chest. "Sounds fun…," he mumbled softly.

* * *

The amusement park was nothing special. The Titans arrived there at elven, the hour delay being because they had to wait for Starfire, who had been trying to get her shoes back from Silky who decided that they made a perfect meal for him and no one else. It was a typical theme park, what with a few roller coasters, impossible game booths, varying other rides, and, of course, the giant Ferris Wheel at the center. At the start, the team had moved around in one group, riding rides and using up their money on the games, but after going on a particularly punishing ride called the Spinning Top that revolved in circles both upright and sideways, and caused Cyborg to throw up while still _on_ it, they split up. Cyborg groaned that he would be in the bathroom for a long time, so after a little conversing, Robin and Starfire went one way while Raven and Beast Boy another. Raven had expected Beast Boy to want to go on all the fast rides like roller coasters and such, but he had hardly spoken a word since they'd gotten to the amusement park, quietly agreeing on whatever Raven suggested. She didn't ask him if anything was wrong. She respected his silence, and if he needed to talk, then he would; he always did. The rest of the day continued without much of a change, and when the night at last started to fall on them did Raven really get worried. Beast Boy had gone the whole day without a stupid comment or joke, and he'd made no attempt to pretend that they were a couple when they were apart from the other Titans. For the final ride of the day, Raven led him to the Ferris Wheel, for she had no interest in roller coasters, although she had gone on one to try to cheer Beast Boy up. It had done little to change his demeanor.

Inside the Ferris Wheel cart, Beast Boy was as soundless as he'd been before. Caving into impatience that Raven didn't know had been building, she at last asked, "What's wrong?"

He turned to her curiously. "What? Nothing's wrong." He narrowed an eyebrow. "Why would anything be wrong?" He said it with such conviction that Raven almost believed him. She looked away from the boy beside her, but a moment later sneaked another glance in his direction. Beast Boy had his elbow on the edge of the screened window, his hand propping up his head. A rare serious expression was on his face, and his eyes were glassy, like he was looking at a distant memory. At such a scene, Raven's concern for him deepened, and she reached out, grasping his hand. She closed her eyes, and flashes of a familiar smiling blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl entered her mind. Beast Boy jerked his hand away, and Raven stared at him.

"Oh," she breathed.

"There are some thoughts I want to keep myself, Raven!" Beast Boy snapped. He faced the window angrily, and Raven looked to the ground. She shouldn't have invaded his thoughts, but Beast Boy's behavior was so off that she had been sincerely concerned. But it made sense now; he was thinking about Terra. What Raven didn't understand was -of all times- why now?

"I'm sorry," Beast Boy mumbled, not moving away from the window.

Raven shook her head. "I shouldn't have done that without your permission. I'm the one who's at fault."

"It's just…" Beast Boy shifted uncomfortably. Raven waited for him, not pushing the conversation. "We… Terra and I… went on our first date here." He swallowed. "O-our only date." Raven watched him, calm and without a sound, but internally thoughts were flying about her head. They had gone on a date? When? Terra hadn't stayed with the Titans that long. When had Beast Boy gotten the chance? When Beast Boy turned to Raven at last, his eyes were wet. "It's just that a lot of memories are here," he whispered.

"It's okay," Raven said, seeing him fighting the tears. Beast Boy squeezed his eyes shut, and liquid streamed down his cheeks. Embarrassed, he crossed his arms over his knees and buried his head in them. Raven made as if to move, but hesitated. Then, giving in, she knelt down in front of Beast Boy and placed her hand over his, not trying to see his thoughts this time, but just wanting to give comfort. "It's okay," Raven repeated, not knowing what else to say. The sorrow coming from Beast Boy was devastating, enough to make even Raven blink back emotion. The air was silent for several minutes, save for the sound of creaking rising from the Ferris Wheel. "Beast Boy," Raven took a breath, not wanting to mess up what she was about to say, "I know how much you cared for Terra, and that she hurt you the most of all of us. We miss her too; even me," she admitted quietly. "I can't heal your pain no matter how much I might want to, but I will always be here to talk or just listen if you need someone there. Whenever you want, Beast Boy."

Raven waited. Beast Boy, with his head still in his arms, closed his eyes and tried to cease his tears. With Raven's warm hand on his, he was beginning to feel better, but there was one memory he couldn't get rid of no matter how hard he tried to expel it; the memory with Terra's bright eyes closing and both of them leaning closer and closer together. Swallowing, he lifted his head. Raven was still knelt next to him, her hand yet on his and a patient expression on her face. Beast Boy blinked, the dark girl in front of him slowly taking place of the blonde girl behind his eyes. Raven caught him looking at her and tilted her head in question. The memory suppressed, Beast Boy rubbed at his flushed cheeks, smiling.

"Thanks Raven," he said. "I feel a lot better."

Raven smiled, if only a little. "I'm glad." She squeezed his hand once, and then leaned back in her seat, setting her sights on the blinking lights of the city in the distance. Beast Boy found himself watching her, grateful for just her and her presence alone. She and Terra hadn't exactly been close friends in the past, but Raven had still found a way to make it sound like she held no blame for the blonde girl. If Beast Boy had to choose any one person to be with him during the time he'd broken down, he was glad it had been Raven. Terra hadn't known him well enough to have known what to do or what to say to make him feel better. Even though she was gone now, Beast Boy had someone here who would always be with him, and Raven wasn't planning on leaving anytime soon.

Raven didn't react to the sudden change of emotion that she sensed from Beast Boy except to shift her position. The distress that previously weighed the shape-shifter down had lifted, and though traces of sadness would always burden him, a warmer, buoyant feeling now radiated from her friend. Raven was subjected to a gentle happiness filling her own chest as the cart's mood changed to one of grateful joy, both of the Titans experiencing the emotion because of the other's company.

The Ferris Wheel rotated once more before the ride was over, and when a recovered Beast Boy and a content Raven exited, they found the rest of the team waiting for them. Waving to the two was Starfire, who held a small pink bear in her arms and stood beside Robin, the leader feeling a lot lighter as his wallet had been all but emptied. Cyborg, not yet at his best from his incident with the Spinning Top, but improved enough to tease his two favorite sources of entertainments, smirked.

"Aw, look at that, the young couple coming back from the Ferris Wheel, the most romantic of all the fairgrounds!" he cooed.

Beast Boy raised an eyebrow. "You know Cyborg, in this lighting I'd say that your face is nearly the same shade as mine. But if it's not, we still have time for one more ride. How about the Spinning Top again? Anyone?"

"Sounds good to me," Raven answered with a glance at Cyborg.

Starfire unintentionally joined in. "Oh, I loved the Top of Spinning! But was it not the ride which made friend Cyborg terribly sick?"

"You bet it was," Beast Boy confirmed, "but I still say we should go on it. Unless Cyborg's…" He transformed into a chicken, clucking mockingly.

Cyborg swallowed and shook his head, backpedaling. "Uh, you know, it's getting pretty late. We probably should, you know, head out soon. Like maybe now?" The Titans smiled, and they began making their way back to where the T-car was parked. Night had completely fallen now, and the lighting they had to guide their way came from the moon.

"So how did the bonding go?" Robin asked Beast Boy and Raven when they were in the parking lot. "Do you think the amusement park helped at all? Do you feel any closer?"

Beast Boy glanced at Raven, and, rubbing the back of his neck, smiled. "I think we made a small breakthrough."

Raven caught his look. "I think so," she repeated impassively.

* * *

**We all knew a chapter involving a mention of Terra was coming at some point, as there were feelings that had to be addressed, but I hope that I left it off at a good part.**

**Review please!**


	10. Commercial

**Time for another chapter! Thank you again for all the amazing reviews and following my story! I'm so lucky to have so many people reading this!**

* * *

It was morning again -a little into the second week of Raven and Beast Boy's relationship to be exact- and a strange aroma had filled the Tower. It washed over Raven the moment she exited her bedroom, and she paused as she detected the easily recognizable scent flowing by her. Frowning, she walked down the hall. Cyborg's waffle iron had broken down a few weeks ago, and he'd never gotten around to repairing it, so then why was the smell of her favorite breakfast emanating from the kitchen? The answer was revealed when she entered the main room; a plate of steaming waffles was set out on the counter, awaiting her arrival. Beast Boy, having heard the doors open, jumped up from where he was looking through the refrigerator. "Surprise!" he exclaimed. "Guess who's getting waffles for breakfast?!"

Raven glided over to the plate. "You made these… for me?"

"Well yeah," Beast Boy stated, like it was obvious. He pulled a carton of orange juice from the fridge. "I know how much you love waffles, so I thought I might as well make some for you as a surprise!"

"And we all know how much I love surprises." Raven rolled her eyes, but nevertheless inspected the crisp meal set before her. She knew how bad Beast Boy was at cooking, so she was surprised when she couldn't find any burnt pieces. Her lack of discovery didn't exactly stop her from fearing that it might be undercooked though. Eventually she gave one of the waffles a delicate poke. When it didn't explode or come alive without warning, Raven decided that it was probably safe to eat. After all, this wasn't something Starfire had cooked up; it wasn't going to try to eat her back. Raven cut a piece and, squeezing a drop of syrup onto the food, took the fateful bite.

"What do you think?" Beast Boy asked, munching on his own breakfast as he slid into a seat beside her with waffles of his own, for though he'd made the golden breakfast for Raven specifically, that didn't mean he didn't want some for himself.

Raven was shocked. "It's… edible. Actually _good_." She took another mouthful. "I thought you couldn't cook."

Beast Boy grinned sheepishly. "I figured out my problem. I kept trying to heat up the stove too high to cook the meals faster, which apparently doesn't work. I just told myself to follow the exact directions and not to improvise this time."

"You should do that more often," Raven noted.

"I tried making herbal tea, but I kinda messed it up. Don't look in the trash," he advised. "It got kinda ugly after the egg carton caught on fire."

Raven lifted her eyebrows. "I'll keep it in mind." She finished off the first waffle and then moved on to the second. She and Beast Boy were still eating their breakfasts when Starfire, who was relaxing on the couch, suddenly squealed.

"Friends Beast Boy and Raven! You are on the television!" she cried.

"What?" Raven approached the giant screen, Beast Boy tagging along behind her. Sure enough, there they were, sitting side by side on the floral couch. A voice in the background announced their names.

"Join us, a week from today, to watch The Cutest Couple Competition live! We have many interesting competitors, including even two of the Teen Titans: Beast Boy and Raven!" The T.V. flashed to another couple who the Titans didn't recognize, two teenagers wearing matching outfits. Again the picture zoomed to more competitors, these ones being Tear and his girlfriend. Tear was grinning. "We'll crush all the competition!" he exclaimed. The girl beside him, who Beast Boy now identified as Spike, smirked confidentially. The woman's voice in the background declared, "Watch the potential drama, intensity between the participants, and adorable awkward situations that can only be created by true couples! Maybe some will even get their first kiss?" Raven and Beast Boy appeared again on the sofa, and a giant question mark enlarged on the screen. The commercial, for that's what it was, changed pictures, showing an empty table with plates and silverware set up on top. "During a live competition, we will see four couples on dates. They will be randomly assigned different locations and will have to make the best of their date from there. Live voting from _you_ the viewers determines the winner of a ten thousand dollar prize!" The words ON AT SIX P.M. CENTRAL TIME scanned over the screen. Just before the end of the commercial, Beast Boy appeared, saying, "We'll just have to make sure to get first!"

A different ad started, and Starfire faced Beast Boy and Raven. Raven had her fingers to her temples, trying to burn the image of the large question mark from her brain. Beast Boy just stared at the screen with a confused look. Starfire put a finger to her chin. "I do not understand. How can you be here and there at the same time?" she asked. Raven grumbled and turned away, muttering incomprehensible words while Beast Boy tried to explain the way television worked to Star. He succeeded in confusing her more, but by then Starfire had already decided to ask Robin. Besides being basically her boyfriend, he was also her translator of earthly ways. Lucky for her, Robin happened to walk in just at that moment. "Robin?" Starfire flew over to the leader. "How is it possible that our friends Raven and Beast Boy are in the television and here at the same time?"

Robin raised his eyebrows. "What? They're on T.V.?"

"Yes," Starfire nodded, "and here at the same time! It is quite confusing, is it not?"

"Uh huh," Robin said, thinking. "Well, Star, television is kind of complicated. I'll explain it to you later." He approached Beast Boy. "Why are you guys on T.V. now?"

"The competition," Raven groaned from the table.

Beast Boy nodded. "There's a commercial for it now. But I must say," he added thoughtfully, "I do look good on camera. Always thought I was taller though."

"And I'm guessing by Raven's reaction that there was something wrong with it?" Robin asked.

"It wouldn't be so bad if they didn't add the stupid part about a first kiss," Raven muttered to herself, feeling a blush spread over her cheeks. She pulled up her hood before anyone could see. Just then, the horrifyingly familiar voice of the announcer filled the room again. Robin turned to the T.V. to see the commercial playing once more.

"That was fast," Beast Boy observed.

"How many times are they going to show this commercial?!" Raven growled. She placed her head on the table and hands over her ears, trying to shut out all sound until it was over, but about halfway through, the doors slid open and Cyborg walked in. He'd woken up that morning -like the rest of the Titans- to the smell of waffles emanating from the kitchen. Following his nose, Cyborg made his way to the main room without much trouble and had just entered when a large black hand suddenly shoved him back into the hall. Staggered, Cyborg had no idea what he'd done to deserve such rough treatment. Inside, the other Titans looked at Raven with shocked expressions similar to Cyborg's. Raven grimaced, her arm glowing with magic. "What? I don't want to deal with him once he sees the commercial, and I doubt Beast Boy does either." After a moment of thought, Beast Boy nodded; Raven had a point. Cyborg could watch the commercial on his own time. Behind the doors that Raven still held shut, Cyborg's shouts of question could be heard. The advertisement was now over, and Raven closed her fist, causing her magic to vanish. Cyborg stumbled in, almost expecting to find a battlefield before him. When all he saw was the Titans standing or sitting around, he was confused.

"Anyone want to tell me what that was all about?" he inquired loudly, crossing his arms.

"What was about?" Beast Boy asked.

"What just happened back there, man! Why was Raven keeping me out?!" Cyborg cried, exasperated.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Raven stated impassively. "Here, have some waffles." Cyborg hesitated, and then gave in to the grumbling of his stomach. With Cyborg temporarily distracted, Raven joined the others.

"That was different than I'd expected," Robin admitted, speaking of the commercial, "but if you play it right, you might be able to use components of the advertisement to your advantage." Raven was silent, wanting him just to get to the point so she didn't have to think about it anymore. "They focused on you two a little bit, which is good for your publicity in general, but if you think on what was said in the commercial and actually tried to-."

Raven didn't have to read his mind to see what Robin was leading up to. "No!" she cut him off. "I refuse!" She had only just succeeded in banishing the giant question mark from her mind a minute ago and now the leader had brought it back.

"Why, what's he talking about?" Beast Boy asked. Raven glared at him, unable to hide the blush that was forming on her cheeks, and suddenly Beast Boy realized what Robin meant. His eyes grew wide and he backed away. "WHOA dude, what _are_ you talking about?!" he cried, his face flushing as well.

"It might give you a good chance is all I'm saying," Robin defended.

"No," Raven vetoed.

"No dude!" Beast Boy agreed. "There's no way we'd… There's no…" He glanced at Raven and rubbed the back of his neck. Robin, looking at both of them, shrugged.

"It was only a suggestion," he reminded. Their attention was stolen by the haunting woman's voice from the commercial once more repeating on television.

Raven whirled on it. "I swear that this channel has nothing else to do but show commercials!" Her eyes glowed white, and Beast Boy, recognizing that she was about to take her anger out of the television, dove for the remote and slammed his finger down on the power button. The screen faded to black. Looking up from his waffles, Cyborg paused.

"What was that?" he asked in between bites.

Raven, the power in her eyes vanishing, sighed. "Nothing." Beast Boy sighed in relief as she turned to Robin. "Have any other suggestions? Any good ones?"

Robin pondered it for a moment. "I don't know for sure. Perhaps try hugging once or holding hands more, but all I can really suggest is what I've said before: to hang out. I was going to go on crime patrol today, but maybe you two could go instead. It could be a good bonding exercise; or a way to release built up anger if you run into any criminals," he added with a quick glance at Raven.

Raven opened her mouth to reply, but Beast Boy beat her to it. Hooking his arm in hers, he replied, "Thanks Robin, we'll do that. Come on, Rae, let's go." He exited, pulling Raven with him.

* * *

"Okay, now that we're out of there, what's the rush, Beast Boy?" Raven questioned. "I mean, besides leaving before Cyborg found out about the commercial." She glided to the roof of a Jump City building and touched down. Beast Boy landed beside her, transforming from a falcon back to human. He shrugged.

"Well, other than that, I just wanted to go so Robin didn't suggest any other… stuff like he had said before," Beast Boy said, laughing nervously. "That was pretty crazy, huh?"

"Insane," Raven agreed emotionlessly. She floated onto the top of the next house, and Beast Boy jumped after her.

He coughed, walking just behind the girl. "Well, I don't know if it's _too_ insane. I mean, it is ten thousand dollars, and actors do stuff like that all the time! And if you really think about it, kissing lasts just like a second. It'd be over before we knew it!"

Raven growled. "We aren't actors. I don't even know why you'd consider such a ridiculous thing." She ascended to a higher building. "You really must want to win to even think about such extremes." There was no response. Raven waited a moment, and then, with an aggravated sigh, turned around. Beast Boy was nowhere to be found. "Beast Boy," Raven called, impassive. Once more, not a sound was heard in response. Raven called again, this time with a little more urgency, moving to the edge of the building. "Beast Boy?" She peered down into the street. A green pigeon abruptly flapped up just in front of her, causing Raven to leapt back with a cry of surprise. Beast Boy settled on the ledge, and, with a fluff of his feathers, converted back into human form. He grinned.

"Sorry about that, Raven. I kinda thought I could make the jump over the gap between the buildings as a human. Turns out I can't." He laughed, getting to his feet. Raven glowered at him, the brief worry that had sparked in her chest extinguished, and removed a green feather from her hair. They started walking again, this time over a longer stretch of building. "So, as we were saying," Beast Boy launched back into their conversation like nothing had happened. "Why is it so unbelievable that we couldn't do it?! What are the reasons?!"

"One," Raven held up a finger, "I don't want to. And two, I still don't want to. Do you have any idea how badly the team would haggle us if we did something like that? It would be everlasting," she rolled her eyes, "because, like you, those immature pinheads have nothing else to do with their time except irritate others." She paused as they came to another gap between rooftops. This time she let Beast Boy go first, and as he transformed into a dove and flew across, she happened to notice something quite out of the ordinary.

Once Raven landed beside him, Beast Boy grinned. "So, it's because the other Titans would drive us crazy about it, but it's not because you think kissing me would be a bad thing?" he teased. He stopped as he noticed her looking at him strangely. "What?"

Raven focused on a cloud nearby, fighting the embarrassment rising in her cheeks. "You have a… interesting rip on the back of your pants…," she confessed. Beast Boy twisted around and found that she was right. A large tear just to the side of his right buttocks had appeared, revealing humiliating images of sparkling unicorns printed on his underwear. With a yelp, Beast Boy threw his hands over the rip and sat down on his hands. His face entirely scarlet, he glanced at Raven.

"Uh, would you maybe mind finding me some new pants?" he asked.

Thanks to her teleportation powers, it took Raven hardly a minute to disappear into the tower, grab Beast Boy another pair of pants, and come back to where he still sat in the roof; he'd refused to move until he had the replacement pants in reach. While he was slipping out of his ruined outfit, Raven faced the street away from him. "So you know, I did not need to see any of that," she moaned, placing a hand on her forehead.

"Hey, just be glad I remembered to wear underwear," Beast Boy said, adjusting his pants and moving next to Raven. He threw his old pair into a dumpster in an alleyway below. He assumed that the rip had occurred the first time he'd tried to jump over the gap and missed. His pants must've caught on something right before he'd changed into a pigeon; now that he thought about it, he _could_ recall a strange tearing sound during his transformation.

Raven massaged her temples. "I did not need to hear any of that." They continued over the rooftops and she glanced at Beast Boy. "But I dare to ask, why unicorns?"

Beast Boy cleared his throat, reddening yet again. "I dunno, they're kinda cool! It's all the rage now! Unicorns are…" He cut off and dropped his head. "Okay, it was a gift from my mom," he admitted. "I felt bad if I didn't wear it, you know?" Raven studied him. Her parents had never given her any presents, one in another dimension -which made shipping prices extraordinarily high- and the other a now-dead demon lord, but if this feeling of guilt was involved, she suddenly seemed fortunate. She doubted she'd even want anything Trigon might have given her anyway.

"I wouldn't know," Raven said.

Beast Boy realized what she meant and winced. "Oh, sorry Raven. I didn't mean…"

"I know you didn't," Raven interrupted. "It's fine." Beast Boy watched her, unsure if she was being sincere. When she did nothing painful to him after a few moments, he spoke.

"Thanks for grabbing me new pants."

"You're welcome," Raven answered. "By the way, you need to clean your room. I could barely get inside because of the things piled up against the door. And don't get me started on the smell."

"I'll get to it someday," Beast Boy smiled, both he and Raven knowing he had no intention of doing so. Raven jumped over a gap between buildings. Beast Boy followed without changing, certain this time that he could make it as a human. He was almost right. His foot hit the edge and his arms pin-wheeled for a moment, trying to keep him upright. Raven sighed, grabbing his hand, and pulled him all the way onto the rooftop. Beast Boy grinned, and, turning away, Raven rolled her eyes.

"Just turn into an animal next time," she advised.

"Heh, yeah that's what I was thinking."

They were now standing up on a very tall building overlooking most of Jump City. Deciding this was a good place to watch out for any trouble, Raven sat on the ledge and dropped her hood down, allowing the wind to blow her hair away from her face. She breathed in, relaxing. While the sun might have been bright, the breeze was cool enough to keep the temperature right where Raven wanted it. Besides, after being out with Beast Boy so much, she was getting used to all the heat the summer brought. Just a day ago she had noticed a small tan covering her arms, and, despite how much she hated it when the weather was too hot, she had to admit that summer looked good on her. She scanned over the city, keeping an eye out for any abnormalities. Beast Boy dropped to sit beside her, squinting.

"See anything?"

"Yes," Raven replied, not moving. "That's why I'm sitting here and doing nothing."

"Hm," Beast Boy frowned, thinking. He transformed into a hawk and peered over the rooftops.

Raven observed his actions with a bored look. "What are you doing?"

Beast Boy switched back to human. "I'm getting a 'bird's eye view'; what do you think?" Raven groaned and rolled her eyes. "Or," Beast Boy continued, grinning, "how about, 'I must have the eyes of a hawk!'?"

"Just sit back down already before I throw you off of the building," Raven sighed. Beast Boy frowned and obliged; so far his plan to make Raven laugh had failed completely. He glanced at the girl beside him. Not even a smirk! Raven sighed and leaned backwards, lying with her back on the roof and facing the clouds. Her cloak rippled lightly in the wind, and once again Beast Boy caught sight of the cut on her upper arm. It was nearly healed from the last time he'd seen it, which had been after the Titan's movie night. She'd never said anything about the small injury, and Beast Boy, being the curious boy that he was, really wanted to know.

"Hey Raven," he started, and she looked at him. He lay back as well, crossing his arms behind his head. Raven lifted an eyebrow, waiting. "Do you remember on movie night… if anything weird happened?" he asked, backing out at the last second. The origin of the injury was none of his business, no matter how much he wondered where it came from.

Raven thought about it. "No. Why?"

"Oh, um… We just had a little trouble with the movie while it was playing, but we got it figured out," Beast Boy lied. He couldn't exactly tell her when he'd noticed the cut; she'd been asleep _on _him. Raven stared at him a moment longer, like she was reading through his fib, then moved back to facing the sky. Beast Boy breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

"Where do you think the places for the dates will be?" Raven inquired out loud.

Beast Boy realized he was talking to her. "Oh, um… I dunno. Probably just somewhere like the movies or something."

Raven shook her head. "I don't think so. How would that be interesting for the viewers? It's going to be somewhere out of the ordinary."

"Like a graveyard?"

Raven glanced at him. "Maybe. We have no idea what's in for us." Beast Boy widened his eyes. He had been joking, but Raven had a point. The commercial said there would be places randomly chosen for them, and then they would have to make the best of it. He would have to make sure to not wear too nice of a suit on the date; if he owned one, that is. Raven put a hand on her forehead. "And it's only in a week," she groaned. Beast Boy swallowed. That was right; there was only a week until the competition. Only a week more that Raven would be his girlfriend, and then everything would go back to normal between them. No more dealing with her emotionless insults all the time. No more being forced to go to the library. He would be left alone to playing his video games and fooling around with Cyborg once again. No more going on fake dates and no more hanging out. No more just talking. Beast Boy paused. Did he really want things to go back to normal like none of the competition ever happened? Of course it wouldn't be like that at first; Cyborg would get his kicks in a little while afterwards, teasing them about if they were still _in love_ and stuff, but what about after that? He glanced at Raven. Was he prepared to let everything that had happened between him and Raven throughout the past couple of weeks disappear?

"So, what are you going to wear to the competition?" Raven asked.

Beast Boy blinked. "Uh…"

Raven rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you were going to wear your uniform?" When Beast Boy smiled sheepishly, Raven exhaled and sat up. "You really didn't think about it? You're the one who's wanted to do the competition all this time, and Starfire's already got an outfit for me."

"Really?" Beast Boy said, remembering the last time he'd seen Raven in clothes other than her cloak. It had been at the beach, and based on that change, he wondered how she would look dressed for an actual date. "What is it?"

For once, Raven felt like being a tease. "It's a surprise."

Beast Boy raised an eyebrow, smirking. "What, you want to surprise me with how good you're going to look?"

"Please. I just don't want to wear it more than necessary. And what makes you think I'm going to look good?" she added.

"Why wouldn't you?" Beast Boy asked, sitting up. "You looked great in your bathing suit when we went to the beach. Err…" He blushed, realizing he'd said that out loud, and mentally cursed his unnecessary need to keep his mouth moving when he was thinking.

Raven stared at him, and then hid a smile. "Cute," she said, "but I'm still not telling you what I'm wearing." After breathing a sigh of relief, Beast Boy laughed.

* * *

"Robin, I need your help."

Robin didn't turn around; he was focusing on the video game on the T.V. which consisted of two cars racing over a large track. Cyborg sat beside him, pounding the other controller in his enormous hands. Beast Boy continued. "Dude, I was talking with Raven while on patrol yesterday like you suggested, and what we were going to wear to the competition came up, and I realized that I have nothing! I need something fancy, so the viewers are impressed! Since I know you have one from your date with Kitten that long time ago, could I use it?"

"What, the tux?" Robin asked, still absorbed in the video game.

"Is that what those things are called?" Beast Boy put a finger to his chin, thinking. He shook his head. "Anyway, can I borrow it?" A loud crash came from the screen and Robin's car bowled over Cyborg's, screeching across the finish line in first place a minute later. Robin leapt up on the couch. "Ha, that's right Cyborg! The champion is no more!" he cried. "A new victor holds the title!"

Cyborg grumbled unintelligible words before yanking Robin back to the seat. "Man, I want a rematch. Four out of five."

"Sorry Cyborg, but I should help Beast Boy out," Robin said, smiling. He jumped off of the sofa as Starfire approached. "Hey Star, want to play against Cyborg in a video game?"

Starfire smiled. "Of course, Robin. I will gladly compete with Cyborg in the game of videos." She picked up the controller upside-down. "This is how I play, correct?" While Cyborg fixed Starfire's hold and started a game that he was certain was to be over quickly, Robin faced Beast Boy.

"Okay, first of all, where is Raven?" he asked.

"She's meditating."

"Alright, then you should get the outfit now, but I don't think you should dress in a tux," Robin advised. "That's what every guy is going to wear, and if you want to stick out, then put on something different. You should have clothes that are a little fancier than everyday attire, but not anything you would wear just lounging around the tower." Beast Boy's face was blank; all he ever did was lounge around the tower. Robin sighed. "I'm going to have to show you what I mean, aren't I? Fine, let's go shopping."

Beast Boy grinned. "Thanks dude!" The bell signaling the end of the race was heard from the T.V., and Robin and Beast Boy looked over to see Cyborg with his jaw to the ground. Starfire glanced back. "Did I win?" she asked innocently.

"How did she-?" Cyborg gasped.

Robin smirked. "Looks like Star's a natural. She beat you faster than I did!"

"I'll say! She topped your score, Robin!" Cyborg exclaimed.

"What?!" Robin leaned forward, placing his hands on the back of the sofa. Sure enough, Starfire's name flashed above his. "H-how did you do that, Star?"

Starfire shrugged. "I simply followed Cyborg's instructions on how to play."

"Wow, I'm impressed," Robin confessed. "I'll have to play you sometime!" Starfire nodded and Robin spoke to Beast Boy. "Ready to go?"

"Okay, but before we leave." Beast Boy walked over to Starfire and took the controller from her. He smashed a few buttons and before long the screen announced WINNER, the new high score blinking on the top of the scoreboard. Beast Boy whirled the cord around his finger before tossing the video game controller to Cyborg. "Yeah dude, I still got it," he grinned.

* * *

**Please review!**


	11. Titans Going On TV

**Once more, thank you for all of the wonderful and amazing reviews! I don't know where I would be without you guys!**

* * *

Beast Boy opened his eyes and, yawning, rolled over on his bed. He glanced at the clock, wondering why he'd woken up so early. It wasn't like him to stir before noon, let at eight in the morning, so why was he feeling antsy? Then it hit him: the competition was today! He sat straight up, hitting his head on the ceiling with a loud _thunk_. "Ow," he moaned, rubbing the new sore spot on his forehead. "Why was it that I ever chose to sleep on the top bunk?" Crawling down the ladder of his bunk bed, the shape-shifter glanced at his closet where the outfit Robin had helped him pick out for the competition was stored. Ironically, the closet was the cleanest place in the room, as all of Beast Boy's clothes were piled in stacks about his bedroom instead of in the closet, and therefore it was the safest spot to keep the clothes until they were needed. He and Raven needed to head over to the studio at five, so Beast Boy figured that he probably didn't need to get dressed for the occasion yet. Discarding his pajamas, which were simply the outfit he'd worn the day before, he threw on another uniform and -with a quick stop in the bathroom to freshen up- strolled into the kitchen, feeling quite cheerful.

After breakfast, he found himself being continually drawn toward the television. Ever since a few days ago when he had played a video game against Cyborg for those brief minutes, he couldn't stop thinking about playing again. During the past three weeks, in between hanging out with Raven and catching up on sleep, he'd had no time to do what he loved best. Beast Boy frowned, knowing that he could easily get drawn into hours of playing time. "Maybe just one game," he decided, turning on the console and jumping on the sofa. That was where Raven found him when she entered the room two hours later: bent over on the couch in fierce concentration, eyes glued to the television screen, and fingers smashing the controls. She leaned against the back of the couch.

"Having fun?" she asked. Beast Boy jumped and paused the game.

"Wh-when did you get here?" he stammered. He rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?"

"Ten minutes ago, and almost ten twenty," Raven answered his questions. She lifted an eyebrow. "I know you love video games, but today of all days? Did you forget we have somewhere to go at five, or have these past three weeks we've used to build up our relationship been just for fun?"

"I've had a serious shortage on video game time recently!" Beast Boy insisted, his hands in the air. "I realized it the other day when Starfire crushed Cyborg." Raven looked at him, shocked. "At video games!" Beast Boy was quick to finish.

"Starfire was playing video games?" Raven inquired, disbelieving.

"Yeah! She's really good at them too," Beast Boy said. "_How_, I have no idea, but that girl can kick anyone's butt! Except mine," he added proudly. He glanced at Raven. "Unless you would like to try to prove me wrong," he teased, waving the controller at her.

Raven shook her head. "Nice try, but I'm going to meditate. I'll need a lot of control today if I'm not going to destroy anything accidentally. Or anyone," she stated. She patted him on the head. "Don't get too engrossed in those games and forget about the competition you've dragged me into. Ironic that I'm the one who is prompting you to do this instead of the other way around," she sighed.

"Engro-what?" Beast Boy asked, confused.

"Never mind." Raven turned toward the door and then paused. "Just so you know, I'm going to disappear into Starfire's room about two hours before we leave."

"Why so long?"

"It takes me an hour to get into the stupid outfit Starfire picked out, and she insists that I wear make-up. I will be fighting her off as much as I can, which will probably take up the other hour. If you happen to hear anything that sounds like explosions when passing by her room, don't come in," Raven advised. Beast Boy smirked and nodded, starting the video game again. Raven had scarcely left when the doors opened once more and Cyborg entered. Cyborg had now seen the commercial for the competition, despite Beast Boy and Raven's efforts to have it otherwise. They had done a rather good job keeping him from viewing it though; Cyborg had only seen the advertisement a day ago, and neither of them had been in the room. The robotic teenager had almost forgotten about it too, until this morning when he passed Raven in the hall and now saw Beast Boy crouched on the couch. Grinning way too brightly, he strode over to the shape-shifter.

"Good morning, BB," he beamed. "Ready for your date tonight?"

"You know it, dude," Beast Boy replied, eyes locked on the screen. He punished the controller, in the process gaining another high score. Sighing, he relaxed against the back of the sofa. "Dude, I'm on fire today!"

"Feelin' alive, man?" Cyborg smirked.

"Yeah, dude!"

"Preparing for your first kiss maybe?"

Beast Boy sighed, getting ready for another game. "So you saw the commercial finally?"

"I'll say I did. And you and Raven were _soooooo _cute," Cyborg cooed, clasping his hands together and batting his eyelashes. He chuckled. "Robin told me what his idea was. So you two gonna kiss or what?"

Beast Boy shook his head. "Naw dude. We talked about it, and Raven's way against the whole thing. Ten thousand dollars or not, I kinda like my arms attached to my body."

Cyborg shrugged. "Fair point. I'm surprised you could even talk about it to Raven without her causing some bodily harm to you. Although you two _have_ been getting closer recently," he noted with some interest. A sly smile spread across his face. "You said that Raven was way against kissing, but were you?"

"She's doing the competition with me; I shouldn't ask for any more than what she's already giving, dude. That's how I lose limbs."

"Hey man, don't dodge the question. Do you, or do you not want to kiss Raven?" Cyborg crossed his arms.

"What do you think, dude?" Beast Boy asked. The T.V. chimed, and Beast Boy grinned, sharp canine teeth glinting. "Look at that, another high score. Cy, you'd better watch out! I'm destroying all of your records!"

"What?!" Cyborg jumped onto the couch beside Beast Boy. "Yo man, why would you do that?!" He snatched up a controller. "Alright, prepare yourself BB! Cyborg is in the house!"

"Bring it!" The two mashed buttons, in moments completely forgetting about Cyborg's unanswered question and indulging themselves in the video game. The day sped by and four o' clock was upon Beast Boy before he knew it. Robin came in to remind the green teenager about getting dressed around then, but he was already gone, showing a surprisingly good deal of responsibility by remembering the competition. It took him ten minutes to get ready, half of the time used in the bathroom. He wanted to look his best when he was on television. Four thirty came around, and all the boys were milling around in the main room, waiting for Starfire to finish prepping Raven. Beast Boy was leaned against the back of the sofa, tapping his foot impatiently. The closer the competition grew, the antsier he got. Beast Boy wore his traditional colors, black and purple, but instead of a suit and tie, he was dressed in a partially buttoned, dark purple shirt with a comfortable black jacket placed over it. His pants were nice jeans, not too casual but still decent looking, and black sneakers fit loosely over his feet. His hair looked no different despite all the time spent in the bathroom; it still stuck up and out all over in different directions. Robin had said that the everyday look was what people could relate to more, so he shouldn't alter his appearance too much, but enough so the audience should notice him. Since he usually wore his uniform, Beast Boy assumed most people would see the difference.

"Are they ready yet?" Beast Boy huffed, crossing his arms.

"If they were, I think that they'd be in here," Robin said. "Relax, Beast Boy. You've got plenty of time."

"What are you so nervous about anyway, man?" Cyborg inquired. "You two aren't gonna kiss, so I see no reason to be anxious." He paused. "You guys haven't changed your mind about that, have you?" the teenager pried nosily.

Beast Boy rolled his eyes. "No, dude. It's just that I brought Raven into this and I would really like to win so she doesn't think it was all for nothing. And so she doesn't like -you know- kill me." The sound of the doors sliding open caught the boys' attention, and Starfire flew out. Her hair was frizzed up randomly in different places and she had interesting smudges of colors on her arms, but her smile was radiant.

"Raven is ready to go, friends!" she exclaimed, settling down beside Robin. He touched her shoulder.

"Star, are you alright?" he asked, concerned. "You look exhausted."

Starfire shook her head. "No Robin, I am glorious! I have never before been involved in 'the makeovers' and I must say it was quite exciting! Although Raven did not seem to have as much fun as I, she still appears delightful!" Starfire called to her friend. "Come in Raven! Friend Beast Boy is here awaiting your arrival!"

"You don't have to make such a scene about it." Raven emerged from the hallway, glaring at Starfire. She was dressed in a skin-tight, short-sleeved, ultramarine blue top that exposed one bare shoulder. She wore a layered black skirt that almost reached her knees. It wasn't overly-fancy, but still not too casual. For shoes, Raven wore dark flats, the same color as Beast Boy's. What was the most shocking of all was -as little there was- Raven had make-up on. Mascara and blush was evident, and Starfire had even managed to apply light lipstick, however faint looked. Starfire grinned, proud of her work.

Raven glided down beside Beast Boy, looking him over as Beast Boy was doing to her. She tilted her head and lifted an eyebrow. "You clean up nicely," she observed. Beast Boy said nothing at first, and so Raven crossed her arms. "What, nothing to say?"

Beast Boy grinned suddenly. "I told you that you would look good." Raven lowered her arms, almost smiling, and Robin stepped forward.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I think you should get going unless you want to be late," he prompted.

"No, no!" Cyborg jumped in. "Let the lovebirds continue!"

Raven rolled her eyes, turning around and revealing a small zipper going up the back of her shirt. "Robin's right; we should go." Beast Boy nodded, following her up the steps. Raven paused at the top and looked back at the other Titans. "You're all going to be watching the show, aren't you?" she asked. They all grinned. "Figures," Raven sighed, exiting through the doors.

* * *

Outside of the tower, Raven created a platform out of her magic for transportation. Beast Boy climbed aboard, and they flew in the direction of the studio. Beast Boy glanced at Raven. "How did you know not to wear something super-expensive-looking? I had no idea, and had to ask Robin."

Raven didn't look at him, focused on flying the platform. "Besides being good at shopping for clothes, Starfire also has excellent taste in choosing outfits."

"Weird," Beast Boy observed, "since we never see her wearing anything new."

"She could; she just doesn't choose to."

Beast Boy thought over the situation. "Hang on. Starfire helped you out, and Robin helped me. Are we sure that Robin and Starfire weren't in on this together?"

"We can't be sure," Raven admitted, "but either way they assisted us, so we should be grateful." Beast Boy nodded and fell silent for the rest of the ride until Raven touched down beside the studio. Two other couples were already there, waiting to be let in through the closed doors. One duo was the matching couple from the commercial, this time wearing identical green outfits which sparkled, much to Raven's disgust. The glittering woman took one look at Raven and Beast Boy and abruptly turned away, sticking her nose in the air. The other pair was two timid college students, the boy wearing a blue tux and the girl had on a cute red dress that cut off right above the knees. They waved at the Titans with shy smiles. Beast Boy waved back cheerfully, and then scanned the immediate area.

"I don't see Tear or Spike anywhere," he noted.

"Would it be too much to hope that they're in jail?" Raven asked. A sleek car suddenly skidded into the parking lot without warning, screeching to a halt far too close for comfort next to the other competitors. Tear and Spike strode out, and Raven sighed. "I should have known better than to be optimistic."

"How much do you want to bet that the car isn't theirs?" Beast Boy whispered to her.

Tear, wearing a leather jacket to match his black leather pants, marched through the others, headed straight for the Titans. Spike was right behind him, and only paused so she could sneer at the girl in the red dress. Spike sported a scarlet and black shirt with ripped off sleeves and a short skirt. Beast Boy was almost certain Tear was going to talk to him, but to his surprise the dark boy faced Raven instead. "How you doin', Witch? Lookin' hot tonight. Having fun with the Grass Stain, or are you wishing you were with a real man by now?"

"Dude," Beast Boy stepped in front of Raven, "did you not get it before at the beach when I told you to quit it?"

Tear looked at Raven again, completely ignoring Beast Boy much to his irritation. It was obvious the dark teenager had no intention of giving the shape-shifter the time of day. "Surprised not to see me in jail after our little encounter?" he sneered. _This_ information surprised Beast Boy. When had they met other than at the beach? He looked at Raven for an explanation, but she wore the mask of no emotion.

"A little," she replied emotionlessly.

"Well, the coppers were too slow for us! We were out of there before they even arrived, and so now we're here to compete. Unless you are prepared to drop out? Remember what I'd said before, Witch." Tear lowered his voice. "Wouldn't want no one gettin' hurt, would we?"

"Is that a threat?" Raven asked, her eyes sparking with anger.

Tear shrugged. "I dunno, you tell me."

Raven was soundless for the amount of time someone could take to inhale a deep breath, and then she suddenly grabbed Beast Boy's hand, squeezing it hard. He was the only one to notice a small spark of magic sting his palm. It was only as painful as a static shock from the carpet, but it still surprised him. He gave silent thanks that she had meditated extra that morning. "Don't do anything stupid," Raven advised Tear.

"Dude, wait," Beast Boy interrupted. "I just realized this, but why were you flirting with Raven if you already have a girlfriend?"

Tear smirked. "There's always someone better out there, Grass Stain."

"You do know that your girlfriend is right next to you, dude?"

"Oh, I know." Tear looked at Spike. "And she would drop me for someone in an instant if there was anyone better, which of course there isn't." Spike nodded and winked at Beast Boy, the piercing in her nose catching the light. Beast Boy swallowed, drawing closer to Raven.

"Some relationship," the woman dressed in sparkling green muttered from nearby.

Tear turned on her. "What did you say?!"

"Hello contestants!" Charmaine's preppy voice interjected the rapidly increasing level of danger in the conversation, and everyone turned to see the woman standing in the doorway. "Are you all ready to be on T.V. today?!" The glittering couple nodded enthusiastically, while the shy duo shrugged. Tear grinned, and Raven and Beast Boy just waited, each mentally preparing for what was to come. "Alrighty then! I'll take a quick roll call." Charmaine pulled out a wrinkled sheet of paper from her pocket, clearing her throat. "First off, are Jace and May here?" The shy couple raised their hands in response. "Great! And are Eleanor and Sebastian here?" With a lift of their glittering hands, Eleanor and Sebastian confirmed their presence. "Terrell and Sky?"

"It's Tear and Spike!" Tear shouted. He snorted, crossing his arms while Spike growled. Raven and Beast Boy exchanged glances.

"Oops, my mistake," Charmaine apologized gaily, marking on her papers with a blue pen. "And finally Raven and Beast Boy?" The two Titans nodded, and Charmaine shoved her papers into her pocket. "Seems like all are present! Listen up, before we go in there are a few things we should let you know. Foul language will not be permitted; it costs money to censor the words out. We also have younger workers here, and it's just not appreciated. Another thing is that you cannot mess with the other contestants. Sure you can talk with them, try to destroy their self-esteem, whatever works; it's great television. But if I see so much as _a drop of blood_ _on the set_, you will be disqualified, partially because I get woozy if I look at blood," she added, grinning. "During the show, which will air in about a half hour, you will spin a wheel that will assign you to special places for your upcoming dates. Don't worry if it's scary or somewhere out of the ordinary; you will be under surveillance the entire time. Your goal is to be as cute as possible, hence the title of the show. The T.V. audience at home will be voting throughout the show, and if you get the most votes then you win the ten thousand dollars. Our staff will also vote, and we count as double, so you might want to impress us. Food will be served where you go; you'll just have to find a place to eat that is romantic, which might be difficult considering where some of you will end up. The dates will no doubt end at different times, but once you are done, give a thumbs up to our cameramen, and we will shut off the camera. You'll be free to go home, and we will announce the winner soon after on television, probably at eight or so tomorrow. Everyone got it?"

The contestants all nodded, save for Beast Boy, who raised his hand. Charmaine -no doubt remembering the interview- tried to hide her hesitance to respond to him, and Raven pulled Beast Boy's hand down. "I'll take care of him," she assured. Charmaine smiled, grateful, then stepped aside to allow the other participants to enter the building. She waited for Raven and Beast Boy to finish talking. "What's your question, Beast Boy?" Raven asked.

"I was wondering if we could use our powers or not," he said.

Raven frowned; Beast Boy actually had a point. She glanced at Charmaine, and the woman smiled, having overheard the question. "You aren't breaking any rules by using them, but if you have to, use them as little as possible. Other contestants might say you aren't being fair."

"Aw, darn," Beast Boy frowned, glancing at Raven. "I was hoping that you could use your powers and give Tear an atomic wedgie or something. Oh well, I can do that without the use of powers."

"And who's going to let you do something that stupid?" Raven asked, raising an eyebrow.

Beast Boy grinned. "The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "Come on idiot, let's go in." Charmaine smiled. She was in truth very fond of Raven and Beast Boy, and she thought the way they acted around each other was adorable. Even though Raven would insult her boyfriend frequently, Charmaine could see the affection behind her words. Besides, two well-known super heroes on her show would start it out with great ratings. Before talking with the competitors, she had overheard the Titans' tense conversation with Tear and Spike, and the way they had handled it was very well. Charmaine already had an idea who she was going to vote for.

As Raven walked through the door, Charmaine stopped her for a moment. "So, I'm guessing still no first kiss?" she asked with a charming smile.

"_No_," Raven growled, slinking into the studio. Beast Boy tagged along behind her, smiling apologetically to Charmaine. The woman simply laughed and entered the building, closing the door behind them.

The studio looked a lot different than before. More crew members were there, running around with important tasks in mind. The floral chair was gone, in its place a large, upright wheel on a stand with glowing lights all around it stood. It was set on a red carpeted floor, and behind it was a wall that looked like the inside of a restaurant. Several tables and chairs were even set up around it. Bright lights still shone throughout the studio, although this time there was only a few patches of dark. Most of the room was lit up. The other couples were exploring the set, inspecting the wheel, and so Raven and Beast Boy walked over to it as well. Blank slips of white paper were hooked on the tops of bars attached to the wheel.

"Dude, this is just like the Wheel of Fortune!" Beast Boy realized. "Except we can't see what we are going to land on! Those papers must have the places of our dates!"

Eleanor, the woman in the glittering green dress scoffed. "This is how we are expected to be assigned to our date locations? How foolish and simple-minded! I could easily think of twenty other ways that the settings could be chosen."

Her date, Sebastian, huffed and nodded in agreement, small showers of glitter falling off of his outfit to sparkle on the ground around him. "Indeed. I could think of thirty ways."

"Without a doubt."

Beast Boy groaned. "Are they going to talk like that the entire time? I think I'm going to go insane before the show even starts!" Raven elbowed him.

"Quiet," she shushed.

"Are you two really the Teen Titans?" The soft voice of the girl in the cute red dress caught their attention. May and her boyfriend, Jace, stood a little ways off to the side. May rubbed her arm self-consciously. "Or are you just actors?"

Beast Boy smiled, walking to them. "Yep, we're the real deal. Want me to prove it?" Without waiting for a response, he morphed into a puppy and wagged his tail, barking. May gave a small surprised shriek. Raven flew over.

"Beast Boy, don't use your powers unless necessary," she reminded. "Remember what Charmaine said?"

He switched back into human. "Oh, yeah."

May watched with wide eyes. "Wow, it's true. I just thought you were some people dressed up like them or something for the show. You were right," she added, glancing at Jace.

Jace extended a hand. "It's an honor to meet you guys. Thanks for saving our city all the time and stuff."

Beast Boy laughed, shaking the hand. "It's just what we do." Jace smiled, withdrawing his hand and putting it into his pants pocket. Beast Boy faintly observed the boy fiddling with something there.

"So why are you two in this competition?" Raven asked, stepping forward.

May shrugged. "The money mostly; we need to pay for college. Every cent helps, you know? What about you?"

"It's a long story," Raven sighed. Their chat was interrupted by Charmaine calling the participants to the wheel.

"Okay, we've got ten minutes until we are on the air. All the locations for dates will be somewhere in Jump City. You will be provided with transportation to get there, but not back to your own homes, since all of you are locals. Call a cab or something, just don't expect any help from the camera crew. They have enough things to worry about without you bothering them. Now choose a seat around the wheel somewhere at one of the tables and sit tight until we're aired. Good? Good?"

Of course, Beast Boy spoke up. "Yeah, I have a question. Do we need microphone clips this time?"

Charmaine shook her head. "No, the bug we had in our systems has been sorted out, so don't worry about it. Any more questions? No? Good? Good? Great. Alright, then sit on down and hang tight until the show starts."


	12. What He Would Do To Win

**Another chapter for you all to read. I know I say it nearly every chapter, but thank you all for the wonderful reviews! And by the way... 54 follows?! I love you guys!**

**Oh, and if you would check out my profile to vote on a poll for my next story (also Teen Titans) I would really appreciate it! Thanks!**

* * *

"Hurry up, Robin! You're going to miss the show, man!" Cyborg exclaimed, sat down in his place on the couch and as giddy as a child in the candy aisle.

"Do you want popcorn or not?" Robin called back. "I'm not going to miss it. Just give me a second." He exited the kitchen and parked himself beside Starfire, handing out bowls of fresh popcorn to his teammates. Starfire frowned.

"So, our friends are not actually in the television, correct?" she asked. "It is only a moving picture of them?"

"Right," Robin nodded. "When we battled Control Freak, that was very different than how T.V. really works. Simply, a camera transfers a bunch of moving pictures to our television." Starfire smiled, satisfied with the answer, and Cyborg leaned over to Robin.

"Sure she understands know, but try explaining about _animated_ T.V. shows and movies," he whispered. Robin smirked.

"I can't wait for that conversation," he said.

Just then, the T.V. screen exploded in an eruption of colors. A deep announcer's voice boomed through the speakers. "THE CUTEST COUPLE COMPETITION!" Quick pictures of couples holding hands, talking, going on dates flickered across the screen before finally zooming up to a woman with black hair and a bright pink shirt on. "LIVE!"

"Hello!" the woman cried. "My name is Charmaine, and welcome to The Cutest Couple Competition! We have a big variety of competitors here with us today, so it's sure to be an interesting night! Our first participants are married couple _Eleanor_ and _Sebastian_," she introduced. A duo wearing identical bright green outfits that sparkled in the light waved to the camera.

Cyborg laughed. "What, did a confetti machine throw up on them or something?"

"Maybe it was a disco ball," Robin offered with a smile.

"Hello. How pleasant it is to be on this lovely show," Eleanor said all prim and proper. Her husband nodded in correspondence with her words.

"I'm sure Beast Boy is punching himself in the face right now," Cyborg grinned, tossing a kernel of popcorn into his mouth. "The way she talks must be drivin' him nuts!"

"What, speaking correctly?" Robin asked.

"Yeah man."

Charmaine motioned to a large upright wheel beside her. "Come on over here you two, and spin the wheel to see where your date will take place!" Eleanor stood without waiting for her partner, and, grasping the side, thrust the wheel into a wild rotation. Eventually it slowed and the marker at the top landed on a slip of paper. Charmaine removed the sheet, flipping it around. "Oh, it looks like you've spun the…," she turned the sheet to the camera, "_graveyard_!"

"The what?!" Eleanor cried, horrified. "A date in a graveyard!? What am I supposed to do in a graveyard: die of fright?!" Sebastian took her arm, trying to calm her down, but the woman was hysterical. "You cannot be serious! I demand to spin again! I will call my lawyer!"

Charmaine smiled helplessly. "Sorry, there is nothing I can do!" she apologized, sounding the furthest thing from sorry. "You're the one who spun! Have fun, you two!" she called, waving as Sebastian dragged a sobbing Eleanor off camera. Charmaine looked at the camera. "What an interesting couple to have been sent there! I'm sure they'll have _wonderful_ time!" She smirked, and then looked to her next victims. "Up next is a college couple, _Jace_ and _May!_" The camera panned to a boy in a blue tux and a girl in a sweet red dress. Jace smiled at the camera while May, blushing, played with her hair bashfully. "Don't be shy! Go ahead and spin that wheel!" Charmaine urged. Jace led May over to the wheel, and together they spun it. Once it came to a stop, Charmaine removed the paper at the top.

"And it looks like you are going…," she paused dramatically, and Jace squeezed May's hand, "to the park! Not bad," she added, smiling. The couple walked off, relief obvious in their expressions. "Up next are _Terre_- err, _Tear_ and his girlfriend, _Spike_!" Charmaine exclaimed. Two faces that the Titans knew only too well appeared on screen.

"What's up, Jump City?" Tear sneered. Beside him, Spike gave a peace sign and stuck her tongue out to the side like a mischievous devil.

"Are you ready to decide the fate of your date?" Charmaine asked.

"I'm ready for anything!" Tear proclaimed boldly.

Cyborg watched, crossing his fingers as the two teenagers approached and spun the wheel. "Please get something horrible, please get something horrible, please get something horrible!" he pleaded. Robin frowned at him, and Cyborg, catching his leader's eye, shrugged. "What? You know you're thinking it too."

"And," Charmaine plucked the paper from the wheel, "your date location is… a fancy restaurant, providing free dinner services!"

"Are you serious?!" Cyborg cried, getting to his feet. "That's so unfair!"

"Calm down, Cyborg," Robin quieted, pulling him back onto the sofa. "Raven and Beast Boy haven't gone yet. Let's see what they get before you freak out."

On the television, Tear and Spike grinned, walking off screen. "See ya there, suckers!" he called.

The camera slid to back Charmaine. She smiled. "Our final contestants of the night are none other than two of Jump City's very own heroes: the Teen Titans _Beast_ _Boy_ and _Raven_!" The two teenagers appeared on the screen, Beast Boy smiling wide whereas Raven looked as emotionless as usual. "Having only started dating recently, these two have not had a first kiss yet!" Charmaine winked at the camera with a wide smile. "But who know? Maybe tonight will give them the right incentive to pucker up?"

Cyborg cracked up. "Man, look at BB's face! He's getting red!" he roared, slapping his leg. Robin remained quiet. Beast Boy had undeniably turned red, but the leader was watching Raven, who, with no hood to hide under had also gotten a shade darker. Robin lifted an eyebrow, smiling, but stayed silent. Ever since Beast Boy's movie night when he'd seen Raven asleep on the shape-shifter's arm, he'd developed suspicions about the two and their "fake" relationship and how far it had really developed. Still, he said nothing.

Beast Boy smiled, rubbing the back of his head. "Heh, yeah, not yet. Um, could we turn the wheel now please?" Charmaine nodded warmly, laughing on the inside at their awkward reactions to the mention of a first kiss, and motioned for them to take a spin at the wheel. The Titans turned it together. Leisurely, it came to a stop, and Charmaine removed the slip of paper.

"Your date location is…," she said, turning over the sheet, "the junkyard!"

The teenagers were quiet at first, and then Raven sighed, tilting her head back to stare at the ceiling. "Wonderful." The screen cut to black and then a commercial came on: an intermission for the show. In the tower, the other Titans stared at the T.V. for a few seconds.

Robin ran his hand through his hair. "Okay, _now_ you can freak out, Cyborg," he permitted.

"Please Robin, I do not understand," Starfire asked as Cyborg started picking up the kernels of popcorn off of the floor from his outburst which had transpired after Robin had given him the all-clear moments ago. "Is the junkyard not the place that friends Raven and Beast Boy are going on a date?"

"Yeah, that's where they're going," Robin confirmed.

"But is the junkyard not an unsuitable place for a date?"

"You got it, girl," Cyborg replied glumly.

"Then why are they headed there?"

"It's part of the competition," Robin explained. "They have to be cute enough, or charismatic enough in my opinion, for people to vote for them wherever their date is at. And now they have to somehow do that in a scrapyard."

"Oh," Starfire said, tapping her chin. After a pause, she asked, "Things are not 'looking the good' for our friends, are they?"

"No Star, they're not," Robin answered, "but I have faith in Raven and Beast Boy. They'll figure something out." A sign announcing THE CUTEST COUPLE COMPETITION came up on T.V. again, and the first couple wearing the matched sparkly outfits appeared at the edge of a graveyard. Eleanor hadn't stopped sobbing, and Sebastian looked a little sick himself at the sight in front of him. "At least we know that Beast Boy and Raven must be doing better than these two," Robin remarked.

* * *

Beast Boy stepped out of the car which had driven them to the junkyard and surveyed the scene. Behind him, Raven set her feet on the ground, feeling the peering eyes of the cameramen on her. She glanced at them. A light on the top of the camera signaled that it was indeed running. Sighing, Raven joined Beast Boy. The shape-shifter crossed his arms. "Man, this place is a dump," he stated with a huff, and then grinned widely at his joke. Raven slapped a hand to her forehead.

"Yes, because I'm sure that horrible jokes are going to please the audience," she groaned. A brown basket nearby caught her eye. "That must be our dinner." Raven glanced at Beast Boy. "Now we've just got to find a place to eat."

"Way ahead of you, Rae," Beast Boy replied, shifting through the mountain of garbage in front of him. He found a blanket that hardly had a smudge of dirt on it and laid it on an open area far away from the piles of junk. He turned to Raven, gesturing for her to sit down.

"Wow, how romantic is this?" Raven stated sarcastically, lowering herself cross-legged onto the sheet. She opened the basket.

"Wait!" Beast Boy exclaimed, digging through the trash again. He removed a wilted bouquet of flowers from a broken vase and handed them to Raven, beaming.

She regarded them with distaste. "Thanks…"

Beast Boy looked down at the dirt already coating his jacket. "Boy am I glad I didn't wear a tux." He smiled. "But really, it's not that bad. This place is kinda like a supermarket, you know? Except everything is free!"

Raven narrowed an eyebrow at him, tossing the flowers off to the side while he was distracted, and then removed the food from the basket. There was a large pan of lasagna, accompanied by a fruit salad and two bottles of champagne and water. Raven placed the wine off to the side. "I don't know what they're expecting us to do with that," she muttered, setting plates out for her and Beast Boy.

"Aw, dude, there's no tofu!" Beast Boy complained once everything had been set up.

"Why don't you go look through your 'supermarket'?"

Beast Boy grinned, rubbing the back of his neck. "Okay, so it's a supermarket for like everything except food. At least there's fruit," he added, taking a heap of the salad. As they ate, the temperature slowly started dropping along with the sun. Beast Boy noticed the lack of light when he stabbed at a slice of apple and missed completely. Skimming over the mounds of rubbish, he suddenly stood and climbed to the middle of one. Grabbing hold of something, he pulled hard. When the object abruptly came loose, Beast Boy tumbled backwards and landed hard at the base of the mountain with a thud.

Raven got to her feet. "Beast Boy?"

The green teenager sat up, smiling and rubbing his head. "Whoops!"

Raven walked over to him, lifting an eyebrow. "I see you've set aside this special time to humiliate yourself in public again."

"Again?" Beast Boy thought over it, then remembered the underwear incident a few days ago. "Heh. Oh yeah." He stood, brushing off his pants, and then held up the thing in his hand that he'd pulled out from the garbage mound. "But check out this candle I found! It should give us some light I think."

"And how are we going to do that without matches or a lighter?" Raven asked, placing her hands on her hips. Beast Boy opened his mouth, and then bit his lip, thinking. He inhaled as if he was going to say something, but then his face fell.

"Oh."

Raven took his hand and threw the candle off to the side. "Don't worry about it; I have an idea." A few minutes later, both of the Titans were stretched out on their backs on their dinner blanket, now placed up top a platform of wood which had probably been part of a porch in its past life. The board was high above the ground, firmly positioned on the pinnacle of a mound of trash. "Have you learned any new stars yet?" Raven asked the green teenager beside her. "Other than the North Star?"

"Uh, no," Beast Boy admitted, crossing his arms behind his head. He looked at her guiltily. "Was I supposed to?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "No. I just wondered." She looked at the stars for a moment. "Let's find out if you can figure out which one is the North Star again."

"Hm… Okay." Beast Boy examined the sky. "Find the big dipper…" He caught sight of it. "And now from the bottom bottom of it…" Raven rolled her eyes. "I go in a straight line… Hey, there it is!" he exclaimed, spotting the bright star.

"Wow, I'm impressed," Raven confessed. "You actually remembered what I told you." While Beast Boy was busy feeling accomplished, a gust of wind brushed over the Titans, and Raven shivered before she could stop herself.

"Hey, you're cold?" Beast Boy asked, sitting up. He took off his jacket and held it out to her.

Raven shook her head. "I'm fine."

"Rae," Beast Boy said, trying to be stern but doing a very bad job at it. Raven lifted an eyebrow. She was in fact feeling very exposed without her cloak to hide behind, and it _was_ getting cold out. Unable to believe she was accepting his jacket just like a helpless girl in the movies, Raven reached out and took the coat. Beast Boy shivered. "Wow! It _is_ chilly!" he declared. Raven frowned, not amused, and Beast Boy grinned. "Heh, just kidding."

He and Raven watched the stars for a little longer together, and, eventually growing tired, they decided the date was over. With thumbs-up at the cameraman, they signaled that they were done. Believing the competition was over, the Titans headed back to the tower.

Back in the studio, all cameras flickered to Charmaine. She smiled naughtily; this was what she'd been waiting for. "Alright viewers back at home, we've got a little surprise in for our contestants. They all think that their time on CUTEST COUPLE COMPETITON is over, as that is what we've told them. What they don't know is that there are hidden cameras concealed all over town so we can see what their personalities are really like once they believe they are off television, and if anything happens that could change your votes." She smirked. "This should be interesting."

Unaware that such a situation had occurred, Raven and Beast Boy walked down the road in the direction of the Tower, neither of them really wanting to rush home to the other Titans' teasing. Raven had given Beast Boy his jacket back, and now both of them were lost in their thoughts regarding the competition and the past three weeks, among other things. A barely audible rustle in the bushes attracted Beast Boy's attention. He twitched his sensitive ears, placing the sound. A shadow flickered in front of both of the Titans, and Beast Boy stopped. Raven, having seen it too, also came to a halt.

"Enjoy the competition?" Tear emerged from the shadows, Spike hanging over his shoulder along with a large chunk of his gang.

"The contest is over, dude," Beast Boy reminded tiredly, waving his hand at them in a "shoo" motion. "Just leave us be."

Tear shook his head. "It's not over until the money is awarded. Spike and I had a wonderful date, so I think we have a good chance to win. You and the Witch though, need to be taken out of the picture just in case. Your popularity might give you a small edge, and that could be a problem." He pulled a knife out of his pocket and leered at Raven, who unconsciously moved her hand to touch her healed shoulder. "Speakin' of an edge…," Tear sneered. Beast Boy saw Raven's reaction, and along with comprehending the meaning of Tear's words, it all suddenly clicked into place: Raven's strange cut and the conversation with Tear before the competition. He stepped in front of Raven.

"You're asking for trouble, dude," Beast Boy said, clenching his fists. Raven glared at him. She could defend herself.

"I am trouble," Tear smirked.

"What is your problem?!" Beast Boy exclaimed, still not stepping away from an irritated Raven. "Quit being a bully!"

"Bully is an understatement," Raven muttered beneath her breath.

"What's it to you, Witch?" Tear snapped, fingering the blade in his hand. "Are you worried about your pathetic excuse for a boyfriend here? How could you find yourself attracted to such a Grass Stain?" Raven glowered at him as Tear continued with a disapproving look. "What would make you like a weirdo kid like him? He's green, has little more common sense than a rock, and is nothin' but a freak."

Raven pushed a hurt Beast Boy to the side, her eyes glowing with power. "He is not a freak, and I would gladly choose Beast Boy over you any day. You're a thief, a thug, and someone who deserves no more than to call a jail cell his home." She lowered her head a little. "You know you can't beat us."

Tear shouted angrily, and with a flick of his wrist, threw his knife at Beast Boy. Before the shape-shifter could move, the blade suddenly stopped in mid-air. Beast Boy looked at Raven; she had her hand out, fingers and eyes blazing black. Jerking her arm to one side, the knife flew into the bushes. Tear signaled to his gang, and they jumped forward, all brandishing different weapons of some kind. Beast Boy transformed into a giant bear and roared, stopping the majority in their tracks. As he slashed at them with a large paw, Tear slipped past and confronted Raven. "Stupid Witch," he sneered, swinging at her with his fists. "Did you forget what happened last time?" From behind him, he pulled out a large net and threw it at her.

"No," Raven said, extending her hand. A flash of black cut through the air, and the net was in pieces within seconds. "That's why _I_ have backup this time." Tear looked at her, confused, when a growl from behind caught his attention. Turning around, he found Beast Boy crouched over in the form of a tiger, his tail flicking back and forth as he prowled forward. While Raven attended to the other criminals, Beast Boy pounded on Tear, landing heavily on his chest with sheathed claws. They crashed to the ground, the Titan on top. The green tiger rumbled, and, with a single claw on scraping a thin line of blood on Tear's shoulder, Beast Boy transformed back into a human.

"Don't try anything like this ever again, _Terrell_," he snarled, bunching the teenager's shirt in his fist. "And leave Raven alone." Standing, Beast Boy looked to his teammate, who had taken a phone from one of the gang and dialed the police, notifying them of the criminals' whereabouts. The gang was huddled next to a tree, leaning as far from Raven as possible. Apparently she'd given them a scare. Beast Boy pulled Tear over and left him beside them.

Raven hung up the phone and tossed it to Spike, who flinched when it hit her. Raven looked at Beast Boy. "The police should be here soon. Ready to go?"

"Wait, we're leaving them here?" he asked, scratching his head.

Raven grinned humorlessly at the gang. "I don't think they're going anywhere anytime soon. _Right_?" she questioned them. They all nodded, wide-eyed.

Beast Boy smiled. "Okay, let's go." Raven moved beside him, and, with a wave of her arm, enveloped them in black, teleporting to the Tower. The moment they were gone, the gang members exchanged glances. None of them moved, and they stayed in the same position they were in underneath the tree until the police arrived five minutes later.

At the entrance of the tower, the two Titans emerged from a sphere of black. Both of them stared at the door for a moment. Beast Boy's ears twitched, detecting the same sound he'd heard right before Tear had appeared, and he looked at Raven. "I never asked; are you okay? Did you get hurt in the fight at all?"

"Fine," Raven answered impassively. She covered her mouth, obscuring a yawn. "Tired though. Ready to go to my room."

"Yeah, I'm sleepy too," Beast Boy admitted, and then paused, fiddling with his fingers. "Um, thanks for sticking up for me before."

"You're welcome," Raven replied with a small nod. She'd been wanting to teach Tear a lesson for a long time now, and tonight she'd finally gotten the chance to do it. "He should know no one gets to make fun of you but me." Beast Boy laughed.

"I'm feeling the love, Rae," he chuckled. Smiling a little, Raven grabbed the door handle, but before she could open it, Beast Boy stopped her. "Wait." He placed a hand on her shoulder, knowing if he'd tried to do that a few weeks ago she would have very possibly blown him to the moon. Now, she just looked at him with annoyance, impatient to get to bed. "Before we go in and, you know, face Cyborg's teasing and stuff," Beast Boy paused, lowering his voice, "I want to thank you, Rae, for being my girlfriend for these past three weeks. I know you really didn't want to do it, and even if we don't win the money, I'd like you to know that I had a good time with you." He rubbed his arm, blushing. "So, thanks."

Raven tilted her head. She hadn't been expecting any kind of recognition, especially from him. "You're welcome?" She moved toward the door when Beast Boy stopped her yet again, but this time in such a different way from before that it made the girl freeze in surprise. Beast Boy leaned forward, closing his eyes, and kissed Raven gently on the cheek. It lasted but a second, but before she could react, Beast Boy slipped into the tower, shutting the door behind him with a quiet click. Raven stared at where he'd been a moment ago, her arms frozen at her sides. She didn't know how to react. She didn't know whether she should knock the boy into tomorrow with her powers or not. Why had he kissed her? Why had she _let_ him? They were no longer going out, so for what reason did Beast Boy have to take such an action? Was it a way to thank her? But Beast Boy hardly used such means for a simple thank you. Raven took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She faintly felt her cheek for a moment, and then turned and entered the tower.

Unknowing to her, in the main room there sat three teenagers glued to the television, their eyes as wide as disks and their jaws dropped far to the ground.

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	13. Why?

**I love you guys. Seriously. I'm up to 70 follows, and the story has hit the 100 mark on reviews! Thank you all so much!**

**As for the slight delay to this chapter, I was out on a few day camping trip with my family, which is also why this chapter is a little shorter. I promise the next one will be longer though.**

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Raven opened her eyes the next morning in a peculiar mood. The first thing that crossed her mind when she awoke was that she wasn't "dating" Beast Boy anymore and could go about her daily routine in the tower as she used to without interference from the green shape-shifter. In fact, according to their deal, Raven had a week free from any trace of his presence. Levitating to her feet, Raven smoothed the covers on her bed with a wave of her hand and then approached the door. She'd just reached it, however, when the strange events of the night before came back to her in a flash of memories and emotions. With a sigh, Raven realized that the day was going to be far from just going about her usual schedule. The winner of the CUTEST COUPLE COMPETITION was going to be announced sometime that afternoon, but more importantly, questions pertaining to the actions taken at the entrance of the tower had yet to be answered by a certain green Titan. Raven took a moment to herself to make sure that the happenings had not been a dream -or a nightmare- depending on how she decided to perceive it later. When she was certain that they really had occurred, she shook her head and walked out of her bedroom into the hall. Of course she was going to confront Beast Boy about the whole thing, but first she needed to eat something so she had a clear head.

The doors to the main room slid open and Raven entered, gliding into the kitchen without bothering to notice the teenager seated on the couch nearby who looked up quickly from the car manual he was reading upon her arrival. When she didn't even acknowledge his presence, he got to his feet and approached the dark girl. Still oblivious to him, Raven opened the cabinet, gathering the items necessary to make her tea, and only when she closed the cupboard door did she realize that Cyborg was standing right beside her. A suspicious expression was planted on his face. Raven blinked. "May I help you…?"

Cyborg studied her, the soft whir of mechanics coming from his robotic eye as the male Titan examined his teammate. "Are you humming?" he asked suddenly.

"What? Don't be ridiculous," Raven dismissed, preparing her herbal tea. She levitated her cup under the sink and twisted on the tap. When she turned around, Cyborg again was hovering over her shoulder. Raven sighed. "What?"

"You're humming again," Cyborg remarked. He frowned, thinking. "I think I've heard that before. Is it the wedding theme or something?"

Raven heated her tea. "What do you want, Cyborg?"

"Me? Oh, nothing, nothing."

Raven didn't believe him, but when he didn't bother her anymore, she let the subject drop. A minute passed, and Robin entered the main room. He paused when spotting Raven, and the leader walked over to her. "Good morning, Raven. How are you today?"

"Fine," she responded slowly with a glance in his direction. First Cyborg, and now Robin, was acting odd. She wondered if watching all that "manly" football together had done something to their heads. Several times, Raven had seen the two shouting commands at the screen as if the players could somehow hear them through the television. Knowing how loud Cyborg could be at times though, Raven suspected that their cries might be audible from the tower and maybe the football players _could_ hear the commands from miles away.

Robin nodded, now standing next to her other shoulder as Cyborg was positioned beside the other. "That's good."

When he didn't say anything else, Raven faced him and Cyborg, crossing her arms. "You two are strangely interested in what I'm doing today. What is going on?" At once both boys grinned innocently, placing their hands behind their backs and taking a step away in synch. "Okay, now I _know_ something is going on," Raven groaned. "Fess up."

They glanced at each other, and finally Robin spoke. "I… think we were up too late last night. You know: doing boy stuff."

"Uh huh," Raven said, skeptical. Neither of the boys said anything after that though, so she was left in peace for a few minutes to sip her tea. However, the moment she walked out of the kitchen, Robin and Cyborg were once again hanging over her shoulder. Raven sighed and set her cup down. "Where's Beast Boy?"

Both Titans instantly were alert. "Why?"

"Since the third boy who usually irritates me is absent, I figure there is a reason for it. Just answer the question," Raven demanded.

"Probably asleep in his room," Cyborg replied.

"He's back to his old habits? Of course he is," Raven answered her own question before either of the Titans standing in front of her could. "It's Beast Boy." She drank a little of her tea and glanced at Robin and Cyborg, who had not moved. She frowned. "I'm surprised you aren't teasing me yet about our 'date' last night?" Raven narrowed her eyes, waiting. "What's going on?"

The boys exchanged looks, but before either of them could reply Starfire glided into the room. The girl caught sight of Raven and her eyes lit up. She squealed, flew over, and captured her friend in an enormous hug. "Friend Raven! What a glorious morning it is to see you! I thoroughly enjoyed watching you on the television last night! Tell me; are you and Beast Boy in the 'official relationship' now?"

"_What_?" Raven hissed, removing herself from Starfire's arms.

Robin tried to stop Starfire from continuing. "Wait a minute, Star-." The girl was oblivious.

"After Beast Boy kissed you on the cheek last night, are you not now truly boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"_What?!_" Raven looked at each of the Titans incredulously. Starfire had a bright smile, Cyborg a mischievous smirk, and Robin looked a little guilty for not telling her. "What are you talking about?"

"Come on, girl, you can't deny it! We saw him plant one on your cheek!" Cyborg exclaimed, now free to speak because their knowledge of the kiss was no longer a secret. Raven's eyes grew wide.

Robin stepped in to explain. "It was on T.V. after the competition. There were hidden cameras set up for everyone when you went back home from the date. The hostess planned to film after the date was over from the beginning. It's good television." He shrugged sympathetically, knowing how he would feel if that had happened to him. Raven seemed to be okay though -at least better than he would be- but she always was good at hiding her emotions.

Raven was staring at her feet with a blank expression on her face. Starfire flew closer, placing a hand on the dark girl's shoulder. "So are you not in a relationship, friend Raven?"

"No!" Raven snapped. "Of course not!" She frowned, again glancing at the Titans, and sat down in a seat at the kitchen table to wrestle with her emotions. Rage was fighting to make an appearance, for she did not appreciate being played with like a toy, and Charmaine had done just that to both Raven and Beast Boy. The Titans hadn't helped either by keeping the information from her for so long, but Raven didn't really blame them; she might have done the same thing in their position. Alongside Rage, Timid shied away, afraid of the publicity that would come from the whole situation. A large chunk of people had watched the show, she was certain of that, and who knew how people would take a new "couple" inside the Teen Titans. Once Robin and Starfire had announced their relationship, it took several months for the media to stop pestering the Titans, and even now they'd sometimes have to duck out of sight from nosy reporters on the lookout for a juicy update. Who knew what it would be like with Raven and Beast Boy, especially since their relationship hadn't been real? Raven couldn't believe she had been unaware of the cameras, but she took small comfort that Beast Boy hadn't known they were there either. Lastly, the strongest emotion of all was curiosity tickling her from within, Knowledge's intrigue asking for the facts of the situation.

Sighing, Raven faced the other Titans. "Why do you think he did it?" she asked tiredly. It was the same question she had been asking herself ever since she'd gone to bed the night before, and now that the team knew, at least the girl could request their outlook on it.

Cyborg grinned. "Because he _loves_ you, that's why!" Raven's eyes flared, and her tea bubbled threateningly. He backed away. "Heh, just a joke..."

"It could be so he could win the competition," Robin offered, saving Cyborg from impending danger, and Raven looked at the leader. "I mentioned trying to kiss a few times if you remember, and since you wouldn't cooperate, he acted on his own. Although it wouldn't make sense if he didn't know the cameras were filming there." He shrugged. "It's an educated guess." Raven narrowed her eyes.

"Find out."

Cyborg started with surprise, and Robin frowned. "What about you?"

"Yeah girl!" Cyborg added. "Why don't you do the dirty work?"

"I'm going to meditate," Raven stated, turning toward the door. "You're the ones who stuck your noses into this; now it's on your shoulders." She exited, and the Titans glanced at each other. They were still pondering how to go about finding out when Beast Boy entered two hours later, stretching his arms wide.

"Dude! That's the best I've slept in a long time! I forgot what it's like to sleep in late!" he exclaimed. "Okay, now what's for breakfast?" he asked himself, hopping down the stairs over to the cabinets. He withdrew a box of cereal and poured it into a bowl, tapping his finger on the side of the dish to a rhythm inside of his head as he did so. It was around the time he had begun to eat that the other Titans approached from where they'd been discussing their problem on the sofa.

"Hey Beast Boy," Robin greeted, trying to ease his way into the conversation. Beast Boy didn't know that they had been on T.V. after the competition was thought to be over, and it was he who had kissed Raven. He would probably be in worse shape than she had been.

"Hey dudes," Beast Boy replied cheerfully.

Cyborg got right to the subject, much to Robin's disapproval. "So, tell us about the girl you kissed last night. Was she hot?" he asked, smirking.

Beast Boy's ears perked up in surprise, and after glancing at his robotic friend, he then went right back to his cereal. "You saw that, huh?" the shape-shifter sighed, stirring his breakfast. "Well, I figured as much."

Robin was the first to recover from his surprise at Beast Boy's lack of response. "You don't seem surprised," he said curiously.

"Well no," Beast Boy shrugged. "I knew that a camera was in the bushes."

This astonished the Titans even more. "What? How?"

Beast Boy tapped his pointed ears. "Animal-like hearing, dudes. Kinda hard to sneak up on someone with the ears of an owl I think." He took a bite of his cereal, speaking through the food in his mouth. "Both times with Tear and at the tower doors I could hear the gears or whatever running in the camera." He pointed at Cyborg. "During the time Raven and I were 'dating,' I learned to get used to hearing electronics and stuff so you wouldn't sneak up on us. I guess you helped in a way." Cyborg grinned, proud that he'd unintentionally helped be the cause of Beast Boy's actions the night before. The kiss was sure to be fuel for many teasing sessions in future conversations.

"So…" Robin, his young detective's mind racing, spoke. "You knew about the cameras and that you were still on television. You were aware of all those factors, so is that why you kissed Raven on the cheek in front of the Tower?"

Again, Beast Boy shrugged. "Makes sense, right? You said that a first kiss might help us win, so I figured I had to take the chance."

Robin still had unanswered questions. "Why didn't you do it before? You had no guarantee that you'd continue to be on television after the competition was over."

Beast Boy rolled his eyes. "It's T.V. dude; of course there's going to be a twist. I've seen enough shows to know there's always a surprise in there somewhere, and since nothing strange happened while on the date, I figured afterwards was my best bet." Robin nodded. Beast Boy had seen endless hours of television, and there was no doubt he knew the most about those kinds of things out of everyone in the tower.

Thinking of Tear, Cyborg came up with a question of his own. "Hey BB, are you going to get kicked off of the show because of the fight with Tear or something?"

"Naw, dude," Beast Boy shook his head. "Charmaine… The lady host," he explained at the confused looks from his teammates, "said that we would get in trouble if she saw one drop of blood _in her studio_. The fight wasn't in the studio, dudes, and I don't think anyone would care if Tear was beat up anyways." Everyone had to agree with that.

"Why didn't you kiss Raven on the lips, man?" Cyborg inquired, now asking just because he was being nosey.

"Are you kidding? She would destroy me." Beast Boy peeked over his shoulder. "I'm already nervous enough hanging around in the Tower as is, dude. I didn't want to seal my fate completely. I'm just hoping she's too shocked to think about it or something." The Titans exchanged glances. Raven's stunned reaction after the kiss was also probably the reason her powers hadn't caused any explosions. She was so shocked that she froze up, leaving no room for any power to slip, and all of the Titans were grateful for that, otherwise the tower might not exist right now.

"Friend Beast Boy, so you are not in a relationship with friend Raven?" Starfire asked in vain. Beast Boy shook his head and Starfire sighed sadly. She'd been hoping that they were, so she could experience the "double date" that she'd heard so much about.

"Sorry Star," Beast Boy apologized. "I doubt she's going to even be hanging out with me for a while now. I promised not to bother her for a week after the competition is over, remember?"

"Hey man," Cyborg interrupted. "What was it that you said to Raven right before the kiss? We couldn't hear it."

"That's because I knew the cameras were there; I spoke quiet on purpose. I was thanking her for being my girlfriend for three weeks." Beast Boy looked at them all. "Okay, so now that we're done with the interviews, can I finish my breakfast or something?"

"Of course," Robin granted permission. "Sorry. We just were curious."

"_Really_ curious," Cyborg emphasized.

The Titans left Beast Boy to his cereal and huddled together in a quick meeting. Robin took a moment to process the information he'd received. The Titan leader had been certain Beast Boy was going to tell them different reasons that justified his actions. Robin suspected that the shape-shifter held feelings for Raven, but apparently he'd been… wrong? Robin shook his head. Beast Boy's explanations added up and made sense, but what about the night the leader caught Raven asleep on Beast Boy's shoulder? What reason was there for the little things that Robin had seen between them, like the small affectionate smiles, the slow closing of personal space, or the fact that Beast Boy hadn't irritated Raven within the past week enough to make her threaten his life?

Frowning, Robin glanced over his shoulder at the green teenager pouring his breakfast into his mouth, stopping as he nearly choked on a plastic toy that was hidden underneath his mountain of cereal. Robin wasn't well known for reading emotions in others, as was proven by how difficult it had been for him to explain his feelings to Starfire in Tokyo. Maybe the young detective was incorrect with his suspicions for once? Robin didn't believe it.

"Alright," he said, pulling his attention to the task at hand. "We know why Beast Boy did it, and that he was aware of the cameras. It looks like we found out what Raven needs to know." Robin paused. "Now we just need to decide who has to tell her."

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	14. What She Doesn't Want To Hear

**Again, you guys are wonderful, and I would never have expected to get as many reviews and follows as I have. Many people have asked if this story is coming to a close and I'm sad to say that... yes it is. ****_Wipes a tear from eye._**

**But NOT YET!**

**This is not the last chapter, so don't despair! Just enjoy it instead!**

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"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," Raven recited, levitating above her bed with her legs crossed. The familiar comfort of darkness washed over her, calming and tranquil. In her mind, she was floating over a single rock with empty black sky all around her, vacant apart from the outlines of red stars far away. She repeated her mantra again, thoughts of Beast Boy fading further and further away. Her meditation was doing a good job of suppressing any feelings and wonderings that she had to worry about, and it seemed like it would stay that way until she suddenly remembered when Beast Boy and Cyborg had entered her head a long time ago. It was a random memory, probably triggered by her current place of meditation, but once it was there, Raven couldn't get rid of it. She almost sighed. Why couldn't she stop thinking about him? The disruption of her usual balanced state was his fault; Beast Boy just _had_ to go and kiss her. What Raven didn't understand was why it had affected her so much. She was hardly one to be distracted from her tranquil and emotionless condition so easy.

"Need some talking to, Raven?"

Raven opened her eyes in her mind to see an exact version of herself -save for a yellow robe and a pair of round glasses- floating in the same lotus position before her. "Knowledge. What do you want?"

"I don't want anything. It's you who came in here," Knowledge pointed out. The emotion tilted her head.

"It's my mind," Raven retorted.

"But you wouldn't have summoned me if you hadn't needed something." Knowledge smiled, pulling up her glasses. "I'm the smart version of you, which must mean that you need advice."

"About what?" Raven snapped. "I've got everything outside of my mind under control, so just go back on into my head." She glanced around at the dark empty space around them. "Or further back into my head."

Knowledge didn't move from her position mirroring Raven's. "Happy has been unnaturally active lately I think you should know. She's been singing a lot." Raven lifted an eyebrow, causing Knowledge to sigh. "You're impatient even with yourself. Just tell me what you need help with, and I'll go."

"I don't need advice," Raven repeated.

"Then why else would I be here?"

"I don't know. You're the smart one; you tell me," Raven retorted.

"Is this perhaps about Beast Boy?" the emotion ventured.

Raven tensed her shoulders. "Leave me alone, will you? I'm trying to meditate." She closed her eyes and breathed in, trying to relax. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos." She cracked an eye open, sighing with relief once she saw that Knowledge was gone. A hand from behind tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hi Raven! What's up?"

Raven grumbled and faced yet another emotion, this one wearing a bright pink cloak and an obnoxious beaming smile. "What?"

"Aw, Raven!" Happy cried, wearing an exaggerated pouty face. "Why such a sad face? Turn that frown upside-down!" As if to demonstrate, Happy flipped herself over so that her feet were crossed above her head and laughed. "Find a new way to look at things!"

"I have no reason to do that. I see things fine from where I'm at," Raven countered.

"I don't know about that. Listen to me, Raven," Happy laughed, "and stop arguing with yourself!" She righted, cracking up.

Raven put a hand to her forehead. "I'm worse than Beast Boy," she grumbled.

Happy leaned forward, grinning. "How is that cutie doing, by the way? He kisses real well, doesn't he? I think so, which means that you must too!"

"Why should I care about that?" Raven growled, rubbing her temples. She'd gone into meditation so she could escape from her worries and thoughts, and yet her emotions insisted on bringing them up again. It was irritating when Knowledge was right, but she should have listened to herself. Knowledge _had_ warned her about Happy. Raven was giving herself a horrible headache.

"Why shouldn't you care?! He's such a cutie, and you can't deny you think that way about him because I'm you!" Happy exclaimed, spinning around. "Take a chance, Raven! You could totally get together with him! Rae and BB sitting in a tree! Hm hm hm hm hm hm hm!" She hummed the rest of the verse, bouncing her head to the beat of the song.

"I have no interest in doing that," Raven stated roughly, hating the nervous feeling she got in her stomach when she thought about her and Beast Boy in a relationship. "The other Titans are working to find out what his motive behind what happened last night was, and once they tell me, I can forget all about it."

"But _Raven_," Happy whined.

"Leave me be," Raven commanded, turning her head. Happy pouted and faded away into the black background. Sighing, Raven had only just gone back to meditation when yet another emotion appeared, this one so quiet it took several minutes for the girl to make herself known.

"E-excuse me?" the nervous emotion whispered. Raven peeked through her eyelids and saw a gray, shy version of herself floating above the rock.

"Timid. At least now I'm not going to be talked to death," she exhaled. "Yes?"

Timid played with her fingers nervously for a little bit before answering. "I—I don't know. You brought me here. I – I thought you needed something."

"I am absolutely fine. You can leave," Raven directed.

"A—Are you s-?"

"Go away!" Raven commanded. Timid flinched, pulling her gray hood further over her head, and was about to obey when someone else stopped her.

"Oh, for goodness sakes." A green-cloaked Brave jumped down from the sky, Knowledge and Happy following her.

Raven huffed, glaring at them all. "This rock is made for one Raven only, meaning me and me alone."

"Shut it. We're all a part of you, so we're the exception to your own rule. But listen up," Brave demanded, placing her hands on her hips. "You need to just suck it up and talk to Beast Boy. That's the real reason we're here and you know it. You can't stop thinking about him."

"You wonder whether he really meant the kiss or not," Knowledge nodded.

"And won't admit your real feelings for him!" Happy giggled.

"Or how scared you are because of it," Timid whispered.

Raven growled. "That is _not_ true. You are all just saying these things to mess with me." She uncrossed her legs, now in a standing position. "The only reason I'm seeing you here is because I'm confused about last night; confused and that's all. I don't even know why I'm humoring this! I hold no feelings for Beast Boy! Why would you say I like him any more than a friend?"

The emotions spoke as one. "Ask yourself."

"Rah!" Raven opened her eyes suddenly to a knocking on her door. Taking a deep breath, she looked around. The familiar gloomy walls of her bedroom surrounded her, and no emotions were in sight telling her idiotic things about her and her feelings. Shaking her head, Raven unfolded her legs and floated to the door. She cracked it open a bit to see it was Cyborg who stood in the hallway, grinning nervously. "What?" Raven huffed, impatient because of the many encounters with her other selves. She felt far from having meditated and calming herself at all.

"Hey Raven! How are you doing?" Cyborg grinned, trying to ease his way into this conversation.

"Fine. What are you doing here?" she asked brusquely.

"Oh, um, well you know how you asked us to do some snooping around with Beast Boy and stuff?" Cyborg paused, wondering if snooping was the right word.

"Yes?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. We talked to him for ya!" Cyborg rubbed the back of his head. How come he been the one chosen to be the bearer of bad news and not Robin or Starfire? They probably figured it would be easier to put him back together once Raven had finished with him. He was part robot after all. "And it turns out that Beast Boy knew the cameras were there all along, so he kissed you because he thought it would help you guys win the competition! Heh. Turns out I was wrong and he doesn't like ya!" He cringed back, arms up to protect his face. "Please don't take your anger out on me!"

Raven didn't move. "Okay."

Cyborg blinked. "You're… not mad?"

"Why would I be? I never said that I liked Beast Boy more than a friend. I only wanted to know why he had done it." Raven lifted an eyebrow. "So there's no problem."

Cyborg laughed nervously. "Heh, oh yeah. Great! No hard feelings then? You're not going to… destroy me when I turn around or something?"

"No." Raven shut her door. Cyborg waited a moment, and when it was clear that she wasn't coming back out, collapsed against the wall in relief that he wasn't dead. Robin and Starfire poked their head around the corner and spotted Cyborg alive on the floor, sweating buckets. He glanced at them.

"I am never doing anything like that again," he swore.

Inside her room, Raven was trying to ease into her meditation state and found it even more difficult than before. Her thoughts continued to drift back to the news Cyborg had brought. So Beast Boy had planned the whole thing. Of course he had. Why else would he have kissed her on the cheek when he knew what she might do to him because of it? And he must have heard the cameras rolling somehow, which explained why he knew they were still being filmed. Beast Boy wanted to win the competition very badly and that was all. Raven was slightly frustrated that he hadn't told her about the cameras, but she forced herself to suppress the feeling. Anger would help nothing. What was done was done, and she ignored the fact that she couldn't think of any real reason to feel angry about what Beast Boy had done, almost the opposite actually. Then there was Happy, who had been more energetic than usual only because she was getting attention. Knowledge mentioned her singing a lot, which explained Raven's humming that morning. Under the belief that everything was now sorted out, Raven breathed in and then out, trying to empty her mind.

"You're still convinced that you feel nothing for Beast Boy?"

Raven refused to open her eyes. "I stand by what I said earlier."

Knowledge sighed. Raven was extremely stubborn, and blind, in her opinion, when it came to admitting what she really felt. Raven always had trouble when it came to expressing and recognizing her emotions, and Knowledge felt that it was part of her responsibility to push herself in the right direction. And because she was smart enough, Knowledge believed she could do it. "Alright. If you don't like him, could you tell me how you actually do feel about Beast Boy?"

"Why should I? I just want to meditate."

"So I can get the facts straight," Knowledge said. "Humor me."

Raven sighed. The faster she was done with this, the sooner the emotion would leave her alone. "Fine. He's irritating."

"What else?"

"He's childish."

Knowledge pushed her glasses up. "Is there anything besides insults?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Do you want me to leave you alone? Then answer."

"Fine." Raven hovered, silent for a minute thinking. "He can be serious." Knowledge nodded, waiting. "And I guess he's eager to please." Raven thought back to when he made waffles and bought ice cream for her. "Considerate, when he wants to be." Another pause. "He tries to involve me." Raven's voice was getting softer as she spoke, and Knowledge smiled. "He confided in me before, and he tried to protect me."

"What else?"

"He comforts me."

Knowledge placed a hand on Raven's shoulder. "Do you see?"

Raven shook her head, opening her eyes, and looked at the emotion. "There's nothing for me to see. He is a good friend; a close friend at most."

"Raven," Knowledge soothed, "the first step you need to take is admitting how you feel to yourself."

"Not everything needs to be analyzed," Raven snapped. Knowledge just smiled at her and faded away. Irritated, Raven was about to give up on meditating altogether when she sensed another being hovering silently near her. Thinking it was Knowledge come back to tell her more pointless information, Raven whirled around. "I don't need you to tell me how I have to feel abou-!" She cut off when her eyes fell on a soft purple cloak instead of the expected bright yellow. "Oh," Raven turned away from the emotion, not wanting to deal with more nonsense. "I assume you're going to tell me how head-over-heels I must be for Beast Boy, right? I don't want to hear it. Just leave me be." The emotion approached her without a word, her gentle eyes shining within the depths of her hood. She placed a hand on Raven's shoulder, and Raven faced her. She knew who the emotion was, for she came from inside of her own mind, and as Raven stared into eyes identical to her own, she experienced a small tremble of fear. She wouldn't dare admit it, but in a way she was more frightened of this emotion than she was of Rage.

At last, the purple-cloaked girl spoke. "Don't be scared of me, Raven."

"I'm _not_ scared of you," Raven retorted a little too quickly. She took a calming breath. "I have no reason to be."

The emotion nodded with a small smile. "Just because I've grown more powerful doesn't mean that I'm any more dangerous."

Raven stared at her before catching herself with a shake of her head. "How could you have grown more powerful? I don't feel you very much, if at all."

"Not even lately?"

"No!" Raven denied, defensive without knowing why. "I don't! You know that I don't love anyone!" Affection, for that's who the emotion was, looked at her sadly. Then, with a small sigh, she removed her hand from Raven's shoulder and put her palm out in between them facing upwards. A small notepad appeared in her hand. After an encouraging nod from Affection, Raven took the book from her and opened it. Flicking through the pages, all she saw were logs of dates with small a few sentences scribbled underneath each entry. "What is this?" Raven demanded, impatient.

"Recordings of the most common days you have experienced affections for others." Affection turned to a specific page, and then stepped back to let Raven read what was there.

Raven frowned suspiciously. "This is just a couple weeks ago." She looked further, falling silent as she read on. The entries became more frequent, drawing closer and closer to the current day and increasing in amount until Raven's eyes fell on the page recording the night of the competition. She snapped the book shut before she could read the level of affection there. The purple-cloaked emotion looked at her, saying nothing, and Raven curled her fingers into fists. "This proves nothing!" Affection took a step toward her, but Raven shoved the notebook into the emotion, pushing her away. "I am my own person, so let _me_ decide how I feel about Beast Boy!"

"Raven…," her counterpart began, but she was interrupted.

"Just stop." Raven shook her head. "I'm not _supposed _to feel, remember? We know what Cyborg said, and I shouldn't like Beast Boy if he doesn't feel the same. There is no reason to be talking about it." She didn't give Affection a chance to respond, instead forcing herself to wake from the meditation trance that her body was in. She opened her eyes in her bedroom and glanced at the clock. It was nearing time to find out who had won the competition. With a strange weight hanging over her like a heavy cloud, Raven glided into the main room.

The other Titans were already there, gathered around the couch. A replay of the episode was playing on television, and Raven blinked as she watched herself touch her cheek and then head inside the Titan's Tower. The screen cut to Charmaine and the woman began to talk about the prize.

"Hello Raven!" Starfire greeted from the sofa. She waved over to her friend. "Come and join us in the watching of the television!"

"Yeah! They're about to announce the winner of it all!" Cyborg added. Raven silently floated down to the Titans and sat on the edge of the couch, avoiding looking at Beast Boy who was right next to her. The conversation with Knowledge and Affection, along with the other emotions, flickered through her head once more. '_Shut up!' _she thought to herself. _'It is not for you to decide!'_

Cyborg was almost jumping up and down on the sofa in anticipation. "Man, I hope you guys win! I mean, who _wouldn't _vote for two Teen Titans?! Well, other than the bad dudes who we send off to jail and stuff… But that shouldn't matter! Robin, Star, and I all took the time to vote for you after the kiss last nigh… eh…" He trailed off with a nervous glance in his teammate's direction, fearing that they- especially Raven- might express their irritation with him by throwing the robotic man out the window. Lucky for him, both Raven and Beast Boy were absorbed in their own thoughts.

Charmaine smiled at the audience. "Quite interesting dates, wouldn't you think? Now that the voting is all done and closed, we have finally selected a winner of the ten thousand dollar prize! We will go from fourth place to first." She paused, looking dramatically at the screen. "In fourth place, at the bottom of the voting barrel, it's Eleanor and Sebastian!" A picture of Eleanor sobbing in the graveyard as her date dragged her away appeared on the television. "Not really a surprise," Charmaine smirked. "In third place, we have Tear and Spike!" A shot of Tear and Spike handcuffed over a police car by officers filled up the screen.

"Serves them right," Cyborg muttered.

"And now we're down to the final two competitors!" Charmaine exclaimed. "Teen Titans Beast Boy and Raven verses college students Jace and May." Raven exchanged a nervous look with Beast Boy, who was wringing his hands together anxiously. He bit his lip, glancing at Raven's own hands that rested on her lap, but then seemed to think better of whatever he was considering and looked back at the television. "In first place…," Charmaine said, drawing out the reveal, "the cutest couple voted on by you, the audience is… college students Jace and May!" A picture of Jace crouched on one knee in front of May with a ring in his hand came on screen. May looked like she was crying. "Leaving Raven and Beast Boy in a very close second place with their first kiss!" The shot of Beast Boy kissing Raven on the cheek flashed up before Charmaine filled up the T.V. again. "Well, that's it for tonight. If you think you have what it takes to be the _cutest couple,_ then call 1-800-CUTESTCOUPLE now! Congratulations to the engaged couple, and we hope to see you next time!" The credits rolled. The Titans were silent.

"Aw man!" Cyborg suddenly exclaimed. "How can you compete with a marriage proposal?! That is so unfair! I demand a recount! And think of all that money I could have used! Ah-," he hesitated at the frowns from his teammates. "-I mean the money _you_ could have used!"

"They deserved it more," Raven said, and all eyes turned to her. "We don't exactly need ten thousand dollars, and since they're in college and now getting married, they'll need it."

"Yeah, but think of all the things we could have bought!" Cyborg cried. He continued his rant while Robin smiled. He agreed with Raven, and although she and Beast Boy hadn't won the money, their time together had definitely caused them to grow closer. He was especially glad that Beast Boy wasn't throwing a tantrum about it, kind of like Cyborg was right now. In fact, Beast Boy was strangely quiet. He looked let down for sure, but he wasn't reacting in a way the other Titans had expected him to. What he most commonly did when losing a video game was blame the system or other player, saying that it was broken or that they had cheated, and that it was always someone else's fault besides his own. Beast Boy did neither of these things now, just stared at the T.V. screen with a disappointed expression on his face. Abruptly he stood up.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now," he proclaimed. "But we beat Tear! That's some cause for celebration, right dudes? I say we order pizza!"

"Now you're talkin', BB!" Cyborg jumped to his feet. "Don't dwell on the failures of the past! Just keep going forward!"

"But were you not the one who was just complaining about how 'unfair it all' was, Cyborg?" Starfire asked.

"Uhhhh," Cyborg swallowed, and then made a mad dash for the phone. "I'm ordering first!"

As Robin and Starfire joined him, Beast Boy approached Raven. "You want to request anything special?" he asked, jerking his thumb at the phone.

Raven shook her head, trying to avoid eye contact with him. "I'm not hungry."

Beast Boy lifted his eyebrows in surprise and made as if he was going to say something, but then just closed his mouth, frowning. "O-okay," he said. "Just… tell me if you need anything then." Raven nodded and glided over the stairs and into the hallway. After seeing the episode from a different perspective than before, she found that all kinds of food didn't seem appealing to her right then.

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**Reviews are appreciated, as always. But you guys know that.**


	15. Accepting the Consequences

Two days passed without much change in the tower. Beast Boy had been doing a particularly good job of keeping away from Raven, whether it was because he had promised to or because of the consequences that his kiss could bring scared him. Either way, she hadn't seen much of the shape-shifter, though his absence was also partly Raven's fault too, for she had spent most of her time alone in her room during the past two days meditating and reading books. None of her emotions had appeared to talk with her ever since discovering who had won the competition, which seemed odd to Raven as they had been so persistent before. Still, she appreciated the silence and alone time without any unnecessary distractions.

Raven wasn't sure why she was spending so much time by herself except for that she just felt better when she didn't have to see the others and be reminded about the contest, although each of the Titans seemed to be doing their own things now whenever Raven did leave her room. Robin was usually training. Starfire had discovered her new favorite hobby to be cooking -much to everyone else's horror- and Beast Boy was catching up on his video game time. Cyborg, whenever he wasn't playing against Beast Boy, had now become obsessed with a new T.V. show, which -to Raven's dismay- was none other than the show she and Beast Boy had been on. She couldn't wait to see Robin try to break Cyborg of his new fascination, _The Cutest Couple Competition_. How the robotic teenager had gone from football to _The Cutest Couple Competition, _Raven didn't know, and she didn't want to. In his spare time though, Cyborg was almost certainly teasing Beast Boy about the show, and Raven didn't want to have to deal with him or his immature taunts unless necessary.

Her peace and tranquility was disrupted on the third day after the end of the contest by a knock on her door. Raven recognized it easily, as the person on the other side was one who came to her room the most out of all the Titans. Raven slid the door open, and, as she had expected, Beast Boy stood there alone with his hands behind his back. He smiled a greeting in the anxious way that he always did.

"Hello," Raven addressed, unsure how else she should respond to his unpredicted appearance.

"Hey Raven," Beast Boy said, shifting his position. "I was just wondering if you were okay."

At least he got right to the point. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well," Beast Boy laughed nervously, "you didn't want pizza… you know, after the winner was announced, and I figured that's reason enough alone to be worried! And the last time you spend days in your room, there was a magic book that had come alive in there and turned your robe all white!"

Raven stepped aside, revealing the empty room save for her usual things along the walls and the bed set in the middle. "See for yourself," she offered. Beast Boy peered in and, after a quick scan around, nodded.

"Yep, it's as normal and dark as ever," he observed, leaning back. He looked at her. "Actually, I also wanted to make sure you weren't mad at me. For… well, you know." He scratched the back of his head, focusing on his feet. "If you were hiding away because of me…"

"I'm not hiding," Raven interrupted, pulling down her hood. "I'm just… taking some time to myself."

"Oh." Beast Boy turned. "Sorry, if I was interrupting, I just-."

"No, it's okay." Raven grabbed his shoulder, stopping him. "You're not intruding." She glanced at his hands hidden behind him from her sight. "What are you hiding this time? Another picnic basket?" she asked, crossing her arms and recalling their "first" date in the park.

"What? Oh, no, not that." Beast Boy held out a book, which Raven accepted curiously. "Remember when I said at the start of the competition when it took forever to convince you to do it with me that I would buy a whole bunch of books and stuff for your room if we won?" He shrugged. "Well, here."

"But we didn't win," Raven reminded.

"And I didn't buy you a bunch of books," Beast Boy said, grinning. "Just this one. Besides, I felt like I owed you something for competing with me. It's kind of a thank you, I guess."

"You already thanked me," Raven murmured. She turned around and entered her room before Beast Boy could ask what she'd said, leaving the door open. Beast Boy hesitated. "You can come in," Raven sighed. Now with her permission to enter the threshold, Beast Boy walked into the room, looking around secretly for any hidden dragons or wizards that might be hiding in the corners as Raven slid her new book into an open space in a bookshelf. The title was in Latin: _Carminibusque Reprehenderit. _Spells and Charms. Raven assumed that -because she doubt Beast Boy knew a single word in another language- someone must have helped him pick it out, but knowing the shape-shifter, he'd probably had the final choice in the end despite his lack of knowledge. Little did he know that this book was one that Raven _didn't _have. She'd actually been looking for it for a long time, and the dark girl couldn't help but wonder where he had found it. She stood and faced Beast Boy. Catching her watching him, Beast Boy quickly straightened and Raven walked over to her bed, sitting down. "Do you have time to talk?" she asked.

Beast Boy glanced at the door nervously."But, um, I thought I had promised not to bother you for a week after the competition was over?"

"You're not bothering me," Raven replied truthfully.

Beast Boy sat down beside her on the bed, rubbing his arm. "Okay. What do you want to talk about?" he questioned.

Raven didn't say anything at first. While alone in her room against her subconscious will, she had thought about this kind of conversation should it ever occur, though she never expected to have gotten the chance. Raven had been prepared, just like everyone else, for the whole thing to blow over and all of their lives to go back to normal without any change, yet here she was with Beast Boy sitting beside her and ready to hear what she had to say. Raven made up her mind and looked at him.

"When you kissed me on the cheek," she started, and Beast Boy widened his eyes. He wasn't sure he was ready for this conversation. There could be potential pain in his immediate future. "The morning after, I wasn't sure what you had meant by it, so I had Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg find out for me. I don't know why I didn't just ask you myself," she admitted. "Maybe I was scared, or didn't want to know." Beast Boy raised his eyebrows. Raven, scared? It was hard to believe that _he_ could scare her the most out of anyone on the team. He always thought of himself as more of the funny dude than a scary guy. Even Starfire's _food_ could be more terrifying than him, although that wasn't saying much as most of the time her dishes were still partially alive, and bore teeth. "Whatever the reason, I had the others do it, and they explained to me what you told them; that you did it to win the contest."

"Raven…," Beast Boy tried to interrupt, but Raven didn't let him.

"I thought about it for a while, but now I want to hear the words from your mouth." Raven looked him straight in the eye. "Did you kiss me on the cheek because of the competition and no other reason?"

Beast Boy swallowed. He always got nervous when it came to talking with Raven, and although it had gotten a lot easier during the past three weeks, with her here staring him down like she was, he found that no matter how hard he tried, it was impossible for him to form a complete sentence. "Well, you see, it was like, uh… That is you were there and I, um… I hadn't, err… The contest was, uh… I heard cameras and the… Ah… you…," he rambled.

Raven frowned.

Beast Boy coughed, pulling himself together. "Yeah, okay. Yes, I heard the cameras rolling when I kissed you on the cheek," he admitted, pulling at his collar uneasily. Raven broke her eye contact, and though she was as emotionless as ever, the entire room seemed to fall into a heavy gloom. His stomach fluttered with guilty butterflies, and Beast Boy felt like he had to tell her the whole truth. "But that's not why I did it."

Raven looked at him. "Why?" she asked dangerously.

"Well, I, um, uh, you see it was like-," he started, precariously close to rambling again. He caught Raven's eye and took a breath. "I kissed you because I've kinda started liking you during the time that we were dating." Raven didn't move for a moment, just watching Beast Boy with her dark violet eyes, which served to make him even more nervous, and -being the anxious boy that he was- once more started talking without really knowing what he was saying. "I know that you said after we had been interviewed to let you know if I was going to try anything ahead of time and stuff like that, but I figured that you would completely destroy me if I told you about it before, which you are probably thinking about doing right now... But I didn't tell the others the truth to why I kissed you because, well, you know, they're _them_, especially Cyborg and who would know what it would be like if he knew how I feel about you and he would never stop teasing us about that. I didn't really have it planned though, because it was just a spur of the moment kind of thing and I figured since it was the last time I'd have the chance I should take it and hope you wouldn't be really mad at me because of it, because I really like you and didn't want to just forget the whole thing without letting you know how I feel and-." He cut off, swallowing as he caught Raven's expression. "W-what are you looking at me like that for, Raven?" he asked with a nervous laugh.

Raven suddenly grabbed his shirt in a tight fist. Beast Boy swallowed again. "W-what are you doing?"

Raven looked at him, deadpan. "You kissed me without my consent," she said. "It's time to accept the consequences of your actions." Beast Boy cringed, bracing for the pain of whatever punishment she had prepared to dish out on him. Raven's usual reaction to anything he did was anger, and such anger was almost always followed by an injury of some sort. That was probably why she had stayed in her room for so long; she was formulating the best way to kill him without leaving any evidence. All those books on the shelves were probably torture spells or something, methods on how to get rid of the people who annoy you most in the world. And he had walked right into her room without even suspecting that he had set his own demise, the end of the era of the shape-shifter Beast Boy. The other Titans wouldn't even know he was gone! Raven would find a spell to wipe their minds and then _poof_! It would be like he had never even existed. Beast Boy thought he was safe from her rage after giving Raven a few days to calm down, but now he realized he'd only been delaying the inevitable.

These thoughts flashed through Beast Boy's head at a thousand miles an hour. Raven's dark eyes locked with his. Only a few seconds had passed, but Beast Boy felt like he was standing on a tightrope above a pit of flame, sweating as the rope slowly burned down to nothing and snapped. He was ready to see his life pass before his eyes any minute now.

Raven glanced at the window for a moment, her expression unreadable. At last, with Beast Boy's shirt still held in her fist, Raven placed on her free hand behind his head, suddenly pulling him close to her, and kissed him, softly pressing her lips against his. Beast Boy, who had been about ready to pass out from fear, was overcome with first relief, and then surprise. Raven was kissing him? She'd looked like she had about to kill him! How was he not dead right now? The questions racing through Beast Boy's mind disappeared for a wonderful moment and his eyes fell shut before Raven moved back. Beast Boy stared at her, and then he pinched his arm.

"What are you doing?" Raven asked with a sigh.

"Making sure I'm not dreaming," Beast Boy confessed guiltily. Raven dipped her head, and before she could stop it, a soft laugh escaped from her mouth. Beast Boy widened his eyes. "Did… Did you just laugh?!" Raven looked at him, smiling. "At one of _my_ jokes?!" He threw his arms in the air. "Okay, now I _know_ I'm dreaming!"

"If you tell anyone, I'll have to kill you," Raven said seriously.

"Now that sounds more like the real Raven," Beast Boy admitted, grinning and loving the fact that he could still feel her kiss tingling on his lips. Not only that, but she had laughed at one of his jokes! It all seemed too good to be true. He sat back, and something behind her caught his eye. "Um, Raven?" he said cautiously, pointing. "I don't want to alarm you or anything, but it looks like your curtains went through a bad cycle in the washer or something." Raven turned around and saw that he was right. Her previously full velvet drapes lay tattered on the floor, appearing as if a playful puppy had snuck into her room and tore them to shreds. In fact, if she hadn't known better, she probably couldn't have recognized that the remains had been part of a curtain at all.

Raven regarded the cloth with no signs of surprise. "I'm impressed that nothing else got destroyed," she admitted. Beast Boy looked at her, confused, and she held up a glowing hand. "Powers driven by emotion, remember?"

"Oh," Beast Boy said, and, dissolving the magic, Raven lowered her hand. Unknowing to the two Titans, a little ways outside of Raven's window floating off into the ocean there was a large chunk of the tower's shore that had been cut from the island by a slash of black magic. No one would notice the change for a while, until one day sometime in the future Robin would ask if anyone else felt like the tower had tilted to the side a little. The Titans would then discover the mysterious piece of island missing, and while Cyborg would be able to fix the problem without any trouble, no one would ever figure out the reason for the missing chunk of land. Back in the present, Beast Boy grinned at Raven. "You know, I really thought you were going to kill me before!"

"It crossed my mind," Raven declared with another smile. "I was deciding if I should throw you out the window at first and then kiss you."

Beast Boy raised an eyebrow. "But were you going to kiss me anyway?"

"It was in the plan," Raven said, "although plans change. It could have gone fifty-fifty."

"I like this fifty," he smirked, running a hand through his hair. "So, does this mean you like me too?"

"No," Raven stated, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes, "because I always kiss people I hate. Right before I tie them up, light them on fire, and then send them into another dimension."

"Those lucky people," Beast Boy grinned, earning a light whack on the back of his head from Raven. Beast Boy grew serious. "But what about the others knowing? What about the team? You said a while ago that their teasing would be hard to bear."

"They already know you kissed me on the cheek, idiot," Raven reminded. "They just won't have to know about this kiss for a little while. The media thinks we've been dating for some time now because of the show, so they'll be the ones we'll have to worry about. We won't have to lie about being in a relationship at the very least."

"Okay, I guess that works. And there's always Starfire and Robin to lighten the load once we do tell them," Beast Boy thought out loud. Raven rolled her eyes again. That was Beast Boy, always thinking of ways to get out of things, although in this case he might actually have a point. But Raven wasn't going to tell him that.

Raven suddenly groaned. "I bet Starfire's going to want to go on a double date with us," she realized, placing a hand to her forehead. Starfire forever wanted to do things that she heard about on Earth, and, of course, Robin would always comply with her wishes. Raven continually was getting pulled along with them when it came to these little activities as she was the lone other girl in the tower.

"At least I'll get to see you dressed up in a cute outfit again," Beast Boy smirked.

"Unlikely," Raven proclaimed. "I'm not getting in another guise like that one for a long time."

"Aw, darn." Beast Boy said, pouting. "Wait," he paused, what Raven had said earlier sinking in at last, "so we _are_ officially dating? Not fake anymore?"

"I suppose so," Raven sighed tiredly, though a smile played at her lips. "But you have to promise that you're not going to buy me a truckload of gifts anymore, especially not all that food like you purchased for me before the competition."

"No problem there. I doubt I have any money left after those three weeks anyway!" He pulled his pockets inside out. "See? Nothing! _You'll_ have to buy _me_ stuff now!" Raven rolled her eyes and Beast Boy stood up. "So when are we going to tell the others?" Raven only shrugged. She hadn't taken any time to think about it. Beast Boy grinned at her. "We could totally mess with them on this you know. You could walk out and act like you are extremely happy because I'm dead. The rest of the team would be completely in shock and freak out, then you would just say you were kidding and… um… uh… help me out here."

Raven snorted. She had no interest in playing pranks on the others, however much they irritated her at times. "There's one flaw to your plan, Beast Boy. I don't think that they'd care too much that you'd be dead."

"What?!" Beast Boy looked hurt. "You can't mean that! They totally love me!"

"Of course they do." Raven got to her feet and started walking toward the door. Beast Boy followed, thinking.

"So Rae, you have got to think I'm funny now that we're really dating," he said. "You laughed at one of my jokes! That's proof, right?"

"In your dreams."

"This feels like one; does that count?" Beast Boy asked with a smile that revealed his glinting canine tooth.

"No," Raven exhaled. Beast Boy stopped in the hallway beside her as she spoke. "We'll figure out a way to tell the rest of the team later." She glanced at her bedroom where her curtains used to be. One of the problems that still existed for Raven was going to be controlling her powers due to her emotions, but she suspected in due time -with a lot of meditation and willpower- she would be able to conquer this dilemma. Luckily, she enjoyed meditation and held a lot of self-control within herself. It would take a little while to get used to it, but, like holding hands with Beast Boy, soon being in a relationship with him would come easily. If Beast Boy got a little roughed up along the way, she could always heal him, but thinking about it, Raven doubted he would even care.

Beast Boy looked at her. "I really can't tell anyone you think I'm funny?"

Raven lifted an eyebrow. "Because I don't."

"Aw, dude," Beast Boy whined. He frowned a moment, then, suddenly kissing Raven on the forehead, spun and raced down the hall. "Hey guys! Guess what?! Raven thinks I'm funny!" he called, arms flailing around. "She laughed at one of my jokes!"

"I swear I'm going to kill him," Raven muttered, fighting a smile. She paused a few seconds to silently quiet the cheering voices of her emotions in her head, and then sprinted after Beast Boy, prepared to throw him in a volcano if she had to in order to keep him quiet.

The End

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**I swear I'm going to start crying. I cannot thank you enough for the many many many wonderous and thoughtful reviews you have all given this story. I especially appreciate everyone's encouragements and I might not have updated as quickly as I have if it weren't for all of you. I'm also so excited, along with shocked, that I got up to the eighties for followers. This is the most successful story I've written, and it's all because of you amazing people. If I could thank everyone individually, I would, but there wouldn't be enough room on the page to do it.**

**But I must give one quick t****hank you to BlueTitan for inspiring me to write a Teen Titan story on Fan Fiction. His writing abilities are beyond amazing, and reminded me just how much I love Teen Titans. I recommend that if you want to read something very good, you might want to look into his stories. Or if you already have, I just posted the first chapter to another story, Mood Swing, that I'm starting which was chosen by the votes from the poll on my page. I'm going to keep the poll up for a little longer, so keep voting on it and I might begin one of those stories too!**

**Thank you all so very much from the bottom of my heart, and, as always, _review please_! Ha, sorry, I couldn't resist.**

**-CleoArrow**


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